May 24, 2024 • 37 mins
Jason McIntyre steps in for Colin and explains why everything is shaping up for the Celtics to capture the NBA title as the Pacers now could be without Tyrese Haliburton. He disagrees with Aaron Rodgers saying the Jets are "must watch TV" and shares his top 5 teams to watch for the upcoming season. Plus, NBA insider Mark Medina joins the show to tell Jason why Anthony Edwards might be the top young player in the league to build around
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowherd
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Welcome to the Herd. It's me Jason McIntyre in again
for Colin Cowherd, heading into a spectacular holiday weekend film
with NBA, maybe some fun NFL storylines. I'm joined as
always by Alex Curry. Alex, I mean, listen, it's a
long holiday weekend. We're working. Everybody else stuck at traffic,
We're grinding a way.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
But this is this is what you sign up for
when you go into sports. It means you're doing well
when you're working holidays and you're working weekends. So I
always embrace it. I love it to be here with you.
And it's it's Friday Funday.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Can we rebrand? Oh well, Friday Funday Funday? Yeah, yeah, certainly.
We got a lot of good topics today. We're gonna
start with the NBA. Last night, the Boston Celtics easily
dispatched the Indiana Pacers. Kind of a snoozer. My men's
league game was way more he did it win overtime.
Celtics win easily, and you know, Jalen Brown had forty,
But the biggest storyline kind of was the Tyrese haliburt
(01:23):
and hamstring injury. It looks like he may not be
able to go in Game three, and we know if
you go down three in the NBA playoffs, it's a
death sentence. Teams that fall behind oh and three I
think are zero and one hundred and fifty three in
the playoffs. So not good for the Pacers. But there's
an interesting storyline regarding Jalen Brown, the Boston star who
(01:45):
scored forty last night, and I say star because he
was All NBA last season. Now, earlier this week, the
NBA announced the All NBA teams and Jalen Brown was snubbed,
And it was kind of weird because Boston had the
best record of the league. The Celtics one NBA point
differential by an astronomical margin. They had the most twenty
(02:06):
point wins in the NBA. They eviscerated the league, totally dominated,
yet only one player, Jason Tatum, was All NBA. How
does that kind of thing happen? And you wonder would
Jalen Brown take that personally? Well, here's Jalen Brown after
dropping forty on the Pacers last night on the All
NBA snub. Was there any motivation for you after hearing
(02:31):
that you didn't make an All NBA team? No, I
want to say that. What would you say? I mean,
we two games from the from the finals, so you know, honestly,
I don't got the time to give. Oh, you gotta
love that jale Brown a quiet anger. They're seething, and
(02:52):
you know who it's a shot at. Let's be real,
people who follow the NBA. It's kind of a jab
at Halliburton, who was injured miss some games, doesn't play
defense like Jays Brown and Haliburt was on the other
side of the court last night. Jalen Brown went off
and let the people know. And I gotta be honest,
Jalen Brown's got some beef. Okay, Well, I'm not gonna
sit here and argue All NBA. But the Lakers who
(03:12):
were playing team had two guys that were all NBA
Lebron and ad And I'm not saying they didn't deserve it.
They were playing team Okay, the Phoenix Suns six seed dusted.
I'm talking swept in the first round by the Timberwolves.
They had two all NBA players, Boston, top team in
the league, only gonna get one. It felt a little strange.
(03:33):
Now I should point out everything is lining up for
Boston right there now, ten and two in the playoffs.
In the opening round, Jimmy Butler did not play due
to an injury. Second round, Donovan Mitchell misses a couple
games due to injury, and now we've got the Halliburton injury.
Things are lining up for Boston and I'm you know,
(03:55):
I talked yesterday with the Mavericks. It's looking to me
like a Celtic's map's collision course in the finals. And
if Boston ends up sweeping Indy, which is certainly in play,
iff Haliburton doesn't go in game three, we're looking at
Boston having eight to ten days off before the NBA Finals.
Eight to ten. That's great news for porzingis. They had
a big guy, Cornette I think got dinged up last night.
(04:17):
He's not a factor. But again, they need ten minutes
out of him in the playoffs, ten minutes a game.
Everything lines up for Boston, there are no excuses. I
know Colin is off Boston being a potential dynasty. They're
also in line to go back to the finals for
the second time in three years. And listen, I'm not
the biggest Jalen Brown fan in the world. I like
his game. I think his handle's still in question. He
(04:39):
did side note leading up to the NBA Draft. He
was working out at my gym and I got a
peek in the window at him and I was like, Oh,
this guy's pretty nice. I didn't think he was a
top five pick. He has emerged as a top fifteen
player in the NBA. That's undeniable. And you guys, I'm
sure have seen the movie Gladiator. I don't know what
it is with me referencing these old school war movies yesterday, today, Gladiator.
(05:01):
But Jalen Brown's quotes last night where he was so,
you know, seething with anger, it reminds me of Gladiator
where Russell Crowe said I will have my vengeance in
this life for the next. I'm sure you remember that
classic line listen. Jalen Brown is getting his vengeance, and
he kind of had a good finals a couple of
years ago against the Warriors, then petered out in the
last few games, and again, you know, the offensive skill
(05:23):
set not totally there. He dropped forty last night though.
Jalen Brown getting his revenge for the All NBA snub,
and the Celtics look like they're hurtling toward another trip
to the NBA Finals. All right, I want to quickly
pivot to the NFL and Jordan Love, Colin Cowherd's favorite quarterback.
I don't know, it's a battle between him and Jared Goff.
(05:44):
This is a situation now in Green Bay. We're not
at def Con one, probably at def Con three. So
Jordan Love famously drafted in the first round. They traded
up for him. Rogers was oh, he was so ticked off.
He used that as vengeance and went and got two
MVP awards in a row. The Packers were at the
top of the NFC, just couldn't break through. So Love
(06:04):
sits for two years, then sits for a third, started
just one game in his first three years, and then
they have the beef with Rogers and he moves on
and Rodgers is angry and pouting. Whatever Jordan Love starts
last year kind of okay, he was nothing special mid
as the kids like to say. And then what happened
in the second half of the season, final eight games,
(06:25):
Jordan Love was dominant, eighteen touchdowns, one interception you tossed
in the play in games. And look at how Jordan
Love ended the season spectacular fashion, no doubt, emerging as
maybe a top ten quarterback in the league. I think
it's in play. I don't know that he's there yet,
but it's only half a season and a couple playoff
games to build on. He did look good against Dallas
(06:47):
and dak on the road and then nearly went to
San France and pulled off the win. That was a
great game. But all arrows are pointing up in Green Bay.
You know, Jordan Love basically has the vibes through the
roof in Green Bay. However, however, there's always a hell. However,
his contract situation is a little tricky, so they decided
(07:10):
we're gonna renegotiate you last year, and Jordan Love only
basically had a one year guarantee. So now he blows
up last season and He's essentially saying, show me the money.
The media asked Jordan Love.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
What does the future hold?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So if you don't get a deal, are you gonna
not show up for training camp. Here's Jordan Love talking
to the media this week. I don't really know what's
going on, but we'll see. But I'm not gonna get
into too much contract stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Is that would you be comfortable playing under the current deal.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Or is that something that you don't want to do
with this pay. We'll see. I don't know yet, you know,
we'll see. M gosh I love a good quarterback controversy.
Now listen, this may be a nontroversy. This may be
done in a couple of weeks. But I've talked about
compound interests before on this show. People love when I
get all financial. The best things in life come from
compound interest learning, finances, obviously, relationships. Trust. Nobody knows this
(08:04):
better than the Green Bay Packers. You had Brett Fahr
for fifteen years at your starting quarterback. Then you transition
to Aaron Rodgers, who gave you fourteen years. Folks, that's
almost three decades with only two quarterbacks. Do you know?
And I referenced the Jets or my team earlier. You know,
the Jets would just kill for one guy to last
fifteen years. That's it.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Give me one.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Quarterback that I can invest in and build that compound interest.
So I'm not shuttling around looking for a quarterback every
few years because it ain't fun. It's not I remember
a guy the Jets had in the eighties, Ken O'Brien.
I was like, Oh, he's the guy, he's the man. Okay,
he had a ceiling. Didn't last ten years with the Jets,
wasn't a starter for fifteen, didn't bring us to a
super Bowl. Yeah, I can say us. You look at
(08:49):
the Miami Dolphins. They're the quintessential example. Dan Marino, superstar,
goes to the Super Bowl in year two. You think
you got him, he sticks around forever. You don't get back.
You You've seen the carousela quarterbacks in Miami since Dan
Marino retired. They're still searching. They don't even know if
t was the guy. Once you find the one, you
(09:10):
lock that in. Whether it's relationships, I said, learning investing
compound interest wins, and the Green Bay Packers can make
this very easy. They can look at Jordan Love and
say you're our next guy for fifteen years. We believe
in you. That second half of the season, we love it.
There's a reason we trade it up to grab you, Jordan,
(09:30):
because you're our guy.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Now.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
You're not going to get fifty five million a year. Sorry,
you're not Burrow at this stage, we haven't seen it.
And he says, well, Jared Goff got fifty three million.
I know he's got a better body of work than me,
but I don't know. I was okay against him head
to head, and I don't think they're much better than us.
You look at our team. We got young head coach,
(09:52):
we got young skill position players. The Packers are really
set up as one of the better young rosters in
the league. Compound interest, keep me, pay me, And then
it becomes well, what do you pay the guy? And
you know you could argue Packers are gonna hold firm.
He's getting paid this season. We don't need to pay him. Sure,
you can be jerks about it and do that and
really tick off your franchise quarterback who you want sticking
(10:15):
around for the next ten years, or you can make
it easy and show the man his money. I'm not
saying you got to pay him fifty three million, like
Jared Goff. I don't know that he's got the body
of work that's Warren's fifty three mil. But I don't
know Trevor Lawrence is gonna get paid here in short order.
And you can't tell me with a straight face that
Trevor Lawrence, who I love. I was a huge Trevor
Lawrence fan of Clemson. You can't tell me that he
(10:37):
has been demonstratively better than Jordan Love. He just has not.
And Jordan Love, I know it's only one season as
a starter, but you've got something to build on with
the continuity in that organization. A lot of young skill
position guys, very young coach. I don't see why they
can't just pony up the money. Now the question becomes,
well what happens if they don't? Is he going to
(10:58):
really hold out? And since the new collective bargain agreement,
we haven't seen a quarterback really hold out now. Chris
Jones of the Chiefs held out last year. It blew
up in his face, a total disaster. He regrets doing it.
Bosa in San fran different story. They were able to
wave his fines for his holdout. He got his money
(11:18):
everything's copasetic. What's gonna happen with Jordan Love. Do the
Packers decide they're gonna play hardball or do they say, Hey,
we want to build something special here. We've got our guy.
We don't want to go the franchise tag route. We
don't want to do that. Remember kirk Cousins in Washington
hated the franchise tag. Washington liked kirk Cousins. They didn't
want to put a ring on it. And they were like, oh, well,
(11:39):
franchise tag you like, We trust that we're gonna be together.
Well two franchise tags later, he's out the door and
Washington's scrambling and they're going through the Taylor Heinekens of
the world and the Ryan Fitzpatricks. Now maybe they have
their guy in Jaye Daniels, but it's been a tough
go since kirk Cousins left. When you have the one
and they think Jordan Love is the one, you gotta
lock it up. I don't think there's any doubt your
(12:00):
love is gonna get paid. I know the guy who
usually sits in this chair wants to preach patience. Let's
see some more. Doesn't work like that. Jordan Love doesn't
have all the power, but he's got some power. And
I believe the Packers will get this done this offseason
before training camp and things will look good. Arrow pointing
up for the Green Bay Packers. The vibes are good,
(12:20):
there are they not, Alex, that was a good take.
Vibes are high.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
The thing is is, like I love how teams like
pretend like, oh, we can't pay the guy. It's the
most important position on the field. You're gonna have to
pay a quarterback if you want a good quarterback. The
prices are only going up. So keep that in mind too,
that where the bar is now it was Burrow I
think makes the most yearly. I mean it's going to
it's going to keep rising, as we're seeing across all sports,
(12:47):
but especially the quarterback position. You have your guy, We
saw that he gelled with the team last year and
got you to the postseason.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Hey man, what's the line from the wire? Yesterday's price
is not today's price?
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
If Trevor Lawrence and Tua get paid? Yeah? And it's like,
I don't know, forty eight to fifty, Like, what do
you do with love? You can't loball the guy you're
gonna have to pay the guy.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Yeah, so sooner than later, then you might get a
little lower market value.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
That's why I think you try to go early. Jared
Goff went early. I mean they paid a lot, but
it could be worse. Like I said coming out, So
coming up next segment, the Giants paid Daniel Jones a
couple of years ago. What a disaster that was. We
tried to advise against it, but Daniel Jones said some
stuff this week about the Giants. It does not sound promising.
It's only getting worse for the worst team in New York.
(13:35):
That's back. That's next year on the Herd.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in neonon eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
We have a good NBA guest coming up. Mark Medino
will be here very shortly. I need to start the
second hour with Aaron Rodgers and my Jets, And I
know I did a lot on Rodgers yesterday and a
lot of Jets fans were not happy with it. What's
going on, guys? Although we wrote together on this Aaron Rodgers,
so he had a spirited Aaron Rodgers discussion in the
morning meeting. I have told Coward before, I think we
(14:06):
need a camera in that morning meeting because guys are
piping up saying cool things, and I had totally forgotten this.
Do you guys remember Aaron Rodgers was like a beloved
figure in the NFL. People liked Aaron Rodgers. He was wholesome,
Midwest state farm commercials, discount double check. He was like,
I don't know if he was quite the face of
(14:26):
the league, as Tom Brady was around dominating and Peyton
Manning was there, but Rogers was very well liked. He was,
you know how like there's that saying on Instagram like
he's your Hooper's favorite Hooper.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
So I love zach Lavine. I'm a big zach Lavine fan.
I will say I've got some zach Lavine stuff that
I heard this week. He's working out here in LA.
I have it from very good sources. Lakers fans just
keep an ear out. But like, I like Zack Levine,
And if I had Zack Lavine, who do you like watching?
You know? He would tell me and then I would
be like, oh, got it, got it. In the NFL,
Aaron Rodgers was that guy. Everybody liked him, and we're
(15:00):
trying to pinpoint when he went sideways, if you will.
And I don't know what it had to do with
internal stuff with the packers or whether it was COVID,
but something went down in twenty twenty and he came
out the other side as like just a different dude. He's,
you know, going in on the vaccine and conspiracy theories.
(15:21):
They just was out of character for Aaron Rodgers. I
don't know when he made the choice to get political.
Maybe he met Joe Rogan and they you know, they're
doing their own thing. It's fine, it's interesting. He's as
polarizing as he's ever been. Now, he was not polarizing,
say twenty seventeen, twenty fifteen, twenty just he just wasn't.
And you know, every time I hear polarizing and changing,
(15:42):
I think of Floyd Mayweather. And you guys know the
famous story of Floyd Mayweather. Amazing talented boxer, just a superstar,
but he wasn't getting the purse that he wanted, so
he turned villain. He went full on heel. He became
money Mayweather literally throwing cash around at the strip club.
He called devated this new personality and instantly became a
(16:03):
box office hit, and everybody wanted to get his fights,
and he's making money just hand over his He changed
fundamentally who he was now. I don't know that Aaron
Rodgers did that fully or it was that calculated, but
something went sideways. Better relationship, something with his family. I
don't know. Maybe one day Rogers will tell us. But
what I do know is that Aaron Rodgers obviously is
(16:25):
piping up a lot this week. He now believes, okay,
that the Jets the most feudal NFL organization over the
last thirteen years, the longest playoff drought in the league.
He believes they are must watch TV. Here's Aaron Rodgers
on Serious Mad Dog Radio talking about the league, the Jets,
and television.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
We are must watch TV, and that's pretty obvious. Everybody
knows that. Whether you love me or hate me, people
want to see me play. They enjoy watching me play,
and we are a team to watch this year. Not
surprising as owen people. Yeah, that's fine, whatever, I don't
care what anybody has to say about that. That's great.
You know, to me, it was rough for the league.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
I get it.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Me only playing a few plays last year. That's going
to be different this year. And you know what happens
when we play him back this year with six great
prime time games. You know what are they going to
say next year?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
You know, if I wanted to get a little conspiracy theorist,
I would wonder, well, must watch TV. I want to
talk about TV and jets. I wonder has anybody heard
about Rogers since he went down with the Achilles injury
that I don't know. Maybe he's had a camera crew
in tow the entire time calculating all everything, documenting his
(17:44):
recovery and his podcast appearances. Maybe there's a Netflix Amazon
special and the works for Aaron Rodgers. I don't know
anybody else here that Maybe Rogers sees what Peyton Manning
is doing this second act, right, Peyton Manning Omaha Productions.
I mean, they're crushing it. Maybe Aaron Rodgers sees Tom
Brady's going to Fox to do TV. Interesting. What do
(18:07):
I need to set myself up for my next act?
Do that quarterback series on Netflix that was wildly successful?
What if they just followed me around? I've got quite
an audience. It's almost as if Aaron Rodgers has been
doing this building up to something. I don't know. Is
he gonna release his own special my recovery And he's
now signaling to his tribe of fans out there, and
(18:28):
you know he's got his tribe, his guys who ride
with him through thick and thin. I don't know. You
just wonder what Aaron Rodgers is up to. Ask for
the must see TV aspect. Okay, I'm a huge Jets
fan of the are nowhere near the top five. So
I put together my top five must see TV NFL
teams this season. We'll go five to one. Here we
(18:50):
go at number five. I think this is easy. The
Chicago Bears. I mean, we're talking about a coach on
the hot seat, a number one pick who's being anointed
as maybe the next Patrick Mahomes. He looks like Mahomes.
You got new receiver and Romadonaza. I even like the
DeAndre Swift pick up. They got Keenan Allen Listen man.
This Bears team finished last season strong. The defense looked good.
(19:12):
They're in a tough division. I think the Chicago Bears.
I am fascinated to see KYLEB. Williams. I will remind
people he did look awesome at times. He had great
plays at USC. He didn't win anything, I mean maybe
a Holiday Bowl here or there, but like, I need
to see it, and I'm very fascinated to Seekayleb william
and the Bears at number four. A bit of a curveball.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Bit of a curveball.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Shane Steichen, Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts. Here's a
franchise that has not won a playoff game since Andrew
Luck retired. Okay, they almost every single year have a
new quarterback under center for Week one. Not this year.
Anthony Richardson's back, and I'm so excited to watch him
because in the flashes he showed last year, this guy
(19:55):
was dynamic as hell. They're never out of a game
because he has a howitzer for an arm and he
is a tank. He's a Cam Newton type guy running
through defenders. Now, he's got to stay healthy, that's obviously key.
But I like Shane Steichen even OC Jim Bob Cooter
has had some good times with Matt Stafford. I think
this is a legitimate wildcard team in the AFC. I
(20:15):
cannot wait to watch. Maybe I'm the only one the
Indianapolis Colts at number three. Here we go the Dallas Cowboys,
and it's not because they're America's team. It's because now
Mike McCarthy is lame duck. You don't have a contract extension.
It's DAK. We don't know what's going on there. It's
Ceedee Lamb, not at OTA's. It's Micah Parsons. He was
(20:39):
like battling a sumo wrestler two weeks ago. What's Michael
Parson's gonna do next? I mean after games, he's going
on podcasts, popping off. It feels like it's a combustible
situation in Dallas, and they have had a really good
run with DAK. It does feel like the end of
the line. I don't know what the future holds, but
I'm very curious when this goes sideways. Assuming it does,
(21:00):
there's some major fireworks expected in Dallas. Let's go to
number two. Yes, out here in Los Angeles, I cannot
wait to watch my guy, Jim Harbaugh. I do have
a lot of guys I like Harball. He does live
kind of near ish me. Now, I haven't seen him,
but I do know his kids go to a school
where a bunch of my buddy's kids go and they
say Harball every time they see him. Super friendly and nice.
(21:21):
I think he's gonna crush it, guys. I know there's
a lot of newness. You know, Keenan Allen's gone, Mike
Williams is gone. I talked earlier about compound interest and continuity. Well,
how's this for you? Are you ready? So the guy
they got at OC is Greg Roman. You know where
he was obviously with Lamar Jackson back in the day,
and he knows Harball very well. From San Francisco. They're
like Baltimore West. They got JK. Dobbins, Gus the Bus,
(21:44):
Hayden Hurst. I think that, like just that knowledge of
players and Roman and Harball, it's gonna gel quicker than
people think. I think this is a surprise team. I
really like the Chargers this year. And I just give
out the name for fantasy football guys who watch the show,
Lad Maconkey, You've got to get him early. I'm just
telling you he's in for a big year. The rookie
(22:05):
out of Georgia and number one. The team I'm most
interested in watching should be no surprise. The best team
in the NFL, the San Francisco, forty nine Ers, brock Purty,
doubters galore. Listen, it's tough for me to crowbar a
brock Purty segment on this show because the staff is
just like it's brock Purty, Folks. I'm telling you, brock
(22:26):
Purty is legit. We've got two years, two years data
on brock Purty being one of the elae quarterbacks in
the NFL. I know he's small. I know he was
the last pick in the draft. I know he's limited athletically.
I don't know. He had two playoff comebacks and should
have won the Super Bowl. The forty nine ers blew
that game, but I can't wait to watch the Niners.
The other thing, little last comment. I forgot who it was,
(22:50):
but a writer said, this is kind of a last dance,
if you will, for the forty nine ers, because one
of Ayuk or Debo is gonna be gone. Kittle's getting
up there in age, McCaffrey's got a lot of wear
and tear, and the defense is getting old at linebacker.
I don't know what the future holds. I think the
Niners win the Super Bowl this year. They've been going
to the NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl every year seemingly.
(23:11):
I think they break through this year. I cannot wait
to watch the Niners. And I know Alex Curry has
some thoughts here. I didn't include the Rams. Chiefs fans
are gonna be butt hurt. Of course, who else am
I missing?
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I'm shocked you didn't put your Jets on there. With
Rogers coming back, I mean, I'm I'm excited to watch
the Steelers. I mentioned that in the herd line, just
because of the reality show quarterback situation that's gonna go
down with Tomlin having nothing to lose, with no loyalty
to either of these guys the last year of his contract,
never having losey season one of the toughest back ends
to a schedule. I think the Steelers are on there,
(23:44):
and then obviously with Rogers must watch TV. You just
did a whole bit.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
It's tough for me with the Jets because I'm watching
them regardless, but like our non Jets fans like I
can't wait to see Gang Green this week, like it's
gonna be Rogers. Rogers is the poll that's who's getting
people to the box. Do you think they're rooting against
him more than they.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Are for It doesn't matter. That's what polarizing is. You're
gonna watch either because you love him or you hate him.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
He knows that.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app. Palli Fusco here with Tony Fusco.
You know, as the host of the number one rated
Polly and Tony Fusco Show. We get tons and tons
of fan mail every day, piles of it.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
In fact, Tony, why don't you open up one of
those letters right now and read what's inside?
Speaker 7 (24:29):
Hey, listen to this. Dear Pauli and Tony, your sports
takes the dumbest and most terribly that.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
Wait, why open this other one?
Speaker 7 (24:37):
Dear Pauli and Tony, you suck more than anyone. Wait,
try this one. Dear Paulie and Tony, you guys are
the absolute best. There you go, coming up with the
stupidest take.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Forget it.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Just listen to the Polly and Tony Fusco Show on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, well,
everybody loves our next guest. He's been covering the NBA
for Mark Medina. Mark, come on in? Did I call
him too early? Here is the long walkout? What's up, buddy?
Covering the league since twenty ten? Ready to talk about
(25:10):
the NBA playoffs? I don't know if we start with
the JV matchup or goes straight to varsity with whatever
you want to do, Let's go with Luka Doncic. I'm
such a fan. I heard this week he was compared
to and we talked about this with Rick Buker. They
compared him to Larry Bird. He got little James hard
in action. I've said he has a vision of Magic Johnson,
I don't know where are you on Luca.
Speaker 8 (25:31):
Well, Luka Doncich is a generational player. He's a special player.
I don't like the comparisons though. I mean, first of all,
I think that all those different players are distinctly different.
Magic is about passing first. Larry Bird three point specialists,
but also had a complete game. I think Luca Dodgich
is a very special star. But we're just seeing the
beginning stages of this. We know that he is a
(25:52):
special player. But prior to this past season, the knock
on him was, oh, he's trying to do too much.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
He's scoring a lot, he doesn't trust his teammates.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
We've seen growth this season, specifically with trusting his teammates,
partly because he's improved in that airing, partly because the
team is better. He's not an elite defensive player yet,
but there is a buy in with that. So special
player deserves all the accoloids, MVP candidate, but I'm not
going to compare those players.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Come on, he did have two great defensive plays in
the final, like two minutes with the steal off the
bad pass by McDaniels and then the breakup of the lob.
I think it was from Conley to Gobert. He's got
an all around game. I just I balk at the
idea that Jokicic is definitely better than him, and tell
me you are in the media. It feels like the
(26:39):
media goes for whoever wins the championship and then goes
gaga for them, and if you haven't won a title,
well you haven't won a championship. Like can we just
slow down? Luca's done more in the first five years
of his career than Jordan almost anybody else. I mean,
magic went and played with Jabbar, which is come on, yeah,
and bird was had a bunch of Hall of Famers
with him. But I don't know, Lucas first five years
have been off the charts.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
You've never seen this, There's no doubt.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
I mean, it depends each voter, but there seems big
picture that there is a carryover effect of a player's
postseason success, even though it technically is a regular season award.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
But I think that when you look at Lucas specifically
this season, he was.
Speaker 8 (27:16):
Making a lot of inroads with catching up in the
MVP race because of just how special and dominant he
was toward the latter part of the season. So I
think it's inevitable he's going to get championships, He's going
to get MVP awards. They even could happen this season
because of how well they're playing, not just with Luca Dodgers,
but Kyrie Irving being the best version of themselves, and
they have a really good supporting cast with PJ. Washington,
(27:37):
Jerreck Lively the second. They're much better defensive team, they
have a lot more scoring depth than they had in
past seasons, and it's the right ingredients at the right time.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
So where are you on Kyrie Irving? First of all
three layers question, we'll just do two number one, what
have your interactions been like with Kyrie as a reporter,
if at all, because he is a scorrely guy. And second,
is he matured past all the night sense from Boston
and Brooklyn or is this just a perfect fit in
their winnings so he's happy.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
I think it's a combination of all these things.
Speaker 8 (28:08):
He's healthier, there's no extraduit, extraanuating circumstances that explain his
absence like we saw in Brooklyn, and the fit ist better.
We'ves being able to see even on other teams when
he is available. He has a great basketball fit. He
has a great talent, He's able to be a score,
great playmaker. But his chemistry with Luca Dodgis has been
(28:29):
able to reach a deeper level because Kyrie can have
the leadership presence. Luca leads by how strong of a
player he is on the court, but he's younger, he's
not really vocal.
Speaker 5 (28:40):
Kyrie can fill that void.
Speaker 8 (28:42):
And then I think when you look at the supporting cast,
they've been dramatically upgraded compared to last season.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I even think last season the fit that.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
Kyrie Irving Luka Doncich had it was good. They just
need more time together. Immediately upon arrival, people around the
Mavericks organization would talk about how great Kyrie is behind
the scene. So I think that now that all the
other ingredients are in store, here you're seeing you know.
I think flashbacks of that title run that he had
in Cleveland could.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Have been a honeymoon could have been a honeymoon face
because we know Kyrie go will go sideways. But let
me ask HI about Donovan Mitchell. Not Donovan Mitchell, I'm
sorry Anthony Edwards. So Anthony Edwards looks to be like
a massive superstar in this league, looks to be awesome.
Last four games, it seems like defenses are starting to
figure him out. Maybe he's tired at twenty two years old,
(29:28):
which is such a cop out. I feel like we
got everybody got a little premature with Edwards and he
kind of read his the clippings. Remember they won the
first two in Denver, the Jordan nonsense starts and then
they lose three straight, like badly, where are you on Edwards?
Speaker 8 (29:44):
Oh, he's a special player, but he's young. He's gonna
have ups and downs. I think that he's going to
have bounce back performances. The good thing is I think
that he's made of the right stuff. Yeah, he's honest
and says, hey, how he wants to take on Kyrie.
But I think that he is a student of the game.
He he developing into a complete player. You've seen him
grow as a passer this season. You've seen him grow
(30:04):
as a defender this season. He's not a finished product though.
The good thing about Minnesota is they have a lot
of roster depth around him. You look at that game
seven against Ever, he did not shoot the ball well,
but play great on defense, and Karl Anthony Towns really
replaced that. I think the dynamic between Towns and Edwards
really good. They can be one A one B. Karlnathon
Towns also doesn't feel threatened by Anthony Edwards. He's you know,
(30:26):
even remarked to his trainer when he was out last
season that he thought, in a weird way as a
blessing disguise because this allows Anthony Edwards to grow. So
short term, what does that mean? This is going to
be all of a series. Dallas Minnesota could go either way.
Can make the case for both, but I think that
big picture, Anthony Edwards will bounce back, probably slow the
(30:47):
role of the hype as far as Michael Jordan goes,
but he is the real deal.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Okay, so wait, you said Carl Anthon Town's like it's
going well. Okay, Mark, Let's say Dallas wins this series.
You've seen all the financial stories written. Does not want
to pay the luxury tax historically in Minnesota paying go
bear Kat Edwards. McDaniel's got a contract. Now you've got
nas reeve got a deal. Like, They're not going to
be able to keep this core intact if they don't.
(31:11):
I don't think if they get out of the Western
Conference finals, do you think they all come back next year?
Speaker 8 (31:15):
I think they all come back, no doubt. The ownership
situation is tenuous, but keep in mind who's running the
front office, Tim Connolly. He was with the Denver Nuggets,
and you know what their play was, let's maintain continuity.
That's partly what got them to that championship run last season.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
So when you talk to Minnesota and.
Speaker 8 (31:33):
The players around there, they're not looking about trying to
make playoff noise and be that cool, fun story. They
want to win a championship. But if they fall short
of that, whether it's in the NBA Finals or in this
West Finals, I don't think it's about making dramatic changes.
It's about trying to use the continuity for momentum purposes
and that compound interest that you've been talking.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
About the nice All right, who would you rather build
around Anthony Edwards or Jason Tatum?
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Oh that's a good question.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
And I like the pros and cons of both players more,
you know, as far as their positive attributes. But if
I had to build around, I'd say Anthony Edwards killing.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Wait, where where did I go wrong with?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Okay?
Speaker 8 (32:12):
I think, well, Anthony Edwards is a little bit younger.
I mean, Jason Tatum is still in his prime and
he's young, but Andy Edwards has a few years fewer,
so that buys some time. But I think that when
you look at just what his game is all about,
he doesn't have to necessarily be a high volume score.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
I think that he is going to continue to morph
into being a playmaker role.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
Jason Tatum has done that as well and become more efficient,
but I think his natural inclination is to be that score,
and as a result of that, I think it's easier
to build a roster around Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
That will be with Jayson Tatum.
Speaker 8 (32:44):
But look, I think we're really splitting there here because
the boss is Heldic.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
They have so much depth.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
The fact that they got chrisofs Porzingis this past season.
They obviously need him in this playoffs. But prior to
his injury, that fit has been really good because it's
brought out the best and hate him brought out the
best in jail and Brown. But and he Knowwards I
think is and will continue to become an even more
special player.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Let's go to that Celtics Pacers series. Halliburton doesn't sound
like he's gonna play. Last time he had the hamstring,
he missed like ten games or something.
Speaker 8 (33:17):
Yeah, so it sounds like or dice it is the
playoffs though, I can keep that in mind. But even
before his hamstring injury, I was talking to his trainer,
Drew Handlin.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
Earlier this week.
Speaker 8 (33:27):
Yeah, he made it clear that he wasn't even fully
one hundred percent because of the back spasms. Didn't go
into great detail, but we knew ahead of time that
Tyres Halliburn was dealing with some stuff and the reality
is the Pacers.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
They are a high powered offense.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
They play well as a team, but if they don't
have Tyres Haliburt, like, they don't have a fighter chance
against Boston. But knowing how he is, my hunch is
he's going to patch everything together to at least go
down swinging.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
So I think he will play. But these hamstring injuries.
Medical staffs don't want to mess around with this.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Do you do all NBAV voting or no?
Speaker 8 (34:01):
I have in certain years, sometimes I haven't, and I'm
leaning toward even if I'm eligible for votes, I don't
want to go down that path anymore because and now
it clearly affects player contracts.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I guess. Yeah, so Halliburton got all NBA and now
he's eligible to make a billion dollars because voters voted
for him, but they didn't vote for Jalen Brown. Now
he got it last year, so he's gotten paid. It's
going to be fine. But you're right, is this something
the league needs to I don't know how you tweak it,
but tying it to all NBA does feel a little
strange to its votes that matter.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
Yeah, well, here's the thing.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
Obviously I'm biased coming from the media but I think
that that is the best pragmatic.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
Solution compared to do you have the player votes? Do
you have the coaches votes?
Speaker 8 (34:43):
Clearly the players don't take the voting seriously when it
comes to All Stars, So that's going to create more
problems and solve them. With coaches, Yeah, they obviously know
the game well, but as we see when they pick
All Star reserves, they tend to more lean lean more
toward players that have been either on winning teams or
that are veterans and that they're familiar with. And sometimes
(35:05):
that makes for the right call, but sometimes it leads
to blind spots.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
So Devin Booker being All NBA over Jalen Brown, Like,
why the hell would the Suns get two guys when
the Suns were six seed?
Speaker 8 (35:15):
Well, I think another part of this is that when
you're on a team like the Celtics, sometimes when you're
having multiple star teammates, it almost hurts your candidacy because
here's the thing, so different basketball minds, whether it's media
or other people around the league, they're split opinions on, Okay,
who deserves the larger percentage of credit for that team's success.
(35:36):
So when you're you know, competing with Jason Tatum and
Chris Hops Porzingis and a lot of good depth that
can go against you.
Speaker 5 (35:42):
But Jalen Brown definitely deserving.
Speaker 8 (35:44):
But I think the tougher part about this exercise is
when we talk about All NBA or All Star and
you say is someone deserving or not? Yes, Usually you
could say yes, but who are you taking out? Yeah,
And that's the hard part.
Speaker 5 (35:55):
I think Tyree Salivern deserves all NBA's.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Well, all right, we got about a minute left of
in Mitchell's coach just got fired, Bickerstaff. Your best guess
as to what happens with Mitchell when they present in
the extension after the finals.
Speaker 8 (36:07):
My best guess, and it is a guess because in
the NBA it's full. I think that he is going
to come back to Cleveland because of that extension, the.
Speaker 5 (36:14):
Fact that look a lot.
Speaker 8 (36:16):
You can make the case that a lot of their
shortcomings head of the fact they went up against Boston
and there's injuries. But you never know because a lot
of teams, including the Lakers, they are going to try
to make their best trade pitches to.
Speaker 5 (36:28):
Get Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 8 (36:29):
But I don't think from Cleveland's end there's gonna be
enough of an appetite that it's worth trading him.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
Even if he denies that extension, there's no.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
Way to get him to say guaranteed, can't ask for
a trade. You can't do that in because he could
just say give me the money now, sure, and then
in a year I'm out, guys, I'm done.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Trade me. Yeah, I mean, you just do that. Contraxts
don't mean anything in today's NBA.
Speaker 8 (36:47):
But it's more about if he declines that the writing
is on the wall that he might want to then
leave next summer. You want to get something in return,
but I don't think there's packages available that will be worth.
Speaker 5 (36:56):
It in Cleveland's mind to do that, all right.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Mark Medina covered the NBA for since twenty ten. My gosh,
you got to see a little Kobe, little Lebron all right.
Speaker 5 (37:06):
Little Warriors too. Yeah, a little Warriors.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
A good run, just a golden run.
Speaker 8 (37:10):
I think we're gonna see w We're both gonna see
the Indiana Fever Sparks game tonight.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Yeah. I will be there all under the W T
can't wait. I mean, I'm not betting on the game.
With my family's excited to see it.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowherd
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Welcome to the Herd. It's me Jason McIntyre in again
for Colin Cowherd, heading into a spectacular holiday weekend film
with NBA, maybe some fun NFL storylines. I'm joined as
always by Alex Curry. Alex, I mean, listen, it's a
long holiday weekend. We're working. Everybody else stuck at traffic,
We're grinding a way.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
But this is this is what you sign up for
when you go into sports. It means you're doing well
when you're working holidays and you're working weekends. So I
always embrace it. I love it to be here with you.
And it's it's Friday Funday.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Can we rebrand? Oh well, Friday Funday Funday? Yeah, yeah, certainly.
We got a lot of good topics today. We're gonna
start with the NBA. Last night, the Boston Celtics easily
dispatched the Indiana Pacers. Kind of a snoozer. My men's
league game was way more he did it win overtime.
Celtics win easily, and you know, Jalen Brown had forty,
But the biggest storyline kind of was the Tyrese haliburt
(01:23):
and hamstring injury. It looks like he may not be
able to go in Game three, and we know if
you go down three in the NBA playoffs, it's a
death sentence. Teams that fall behind oh and three I
think are zero and one hundred and fifty three in
the playoffs. So not good for the Pacers. But there's
an interesting storyline regarding Jalen Brown, the Boston star who
(01:45):
scored forty last night, and I say star because he
was All NBA last season. Now, earlier this week, the
NBA announced the All NBA teams and Jalen Brown was snubbed,
And it was kind of weird because Boston had the
best record of the league. The Celtics one NBA point
differential by an astronomical margin. They had the most twenty
(02:06):
point wins in the NBA. They eviscerated the league, totally dominated,
yet only one player, Jason Tatum, was All NBA. How
does that kind of thing happen? And you wonder would
Jalen Brown take that personally? Well, here's Jalen Brown after
dropping forty on the Pacers last night on the All
NBA snub. Was there any motivation for you after hearing
(02:31):
that you didn't make an All NBA team? No, I
want to say that. What would you say? I mean,
we two games from the from the finals, so you know, honestly,
I don't got the time to give. Oh, you gotta
love that jale Brown a quiet anger. They're seething, and
(02:52):
you know who it's a shot at. Let's be real,
people who follow the NBA. It's kind of a jab
at Halliburton, who was injured miss some games, doesn't play
defense like Jays Brown and Haliburt was on the other
side of the court last night. Jalen Brown went off
and let the people know. And I gotta be honest,
Jalen Brown's got some beef. Okay, Well, I'm not gonna
sit here and argue All NBA. But the Lakers who
(03:12):
were playing team had two guys that were all NBA
Lebron and ad And I'm not saying they didn't deserve it.
They were playing team Okay, the Phoenix Suns six seed dusted.
I'm talking swept in the first round by the Timberwolves.
They had two all NBA players, Boston, top team in
the league, only gonna get one. It felt a little strange.
(03:33):
Now I should point out everything is lining up for
Boston right there now, ten and two in the playoffs.
In the opening round, Jimmy Butler did not play due
to an injury. Second round, Donovan Mitchell misses a couple
games due to injury, and now we've got the Halliburton injury.
Things are lining up for Boston and I'm you know,
(03:55):
I talked yesterday with the Mavericks. It's looking to me
like a Celtic's map's collision course in the finals. And
if Boston ends up sweeping Indy, which is certainly in play,
iff Haliburton doesn't go in game three, we're looking at
Boston having eight to ten days off before the NBA Finals.
Eight to ten. That's great news for porzingis. They had
a big guy, Cornette I think got dinged up last night.
(04:17):
He's not a factor. But again, they need ten minutes
out of him in the playoffs, ten minutes a game.
Everything lines up for Boston, there are no excuses. I
know Colin is off Boston being a potential dynasty. They're
also in line to go back to the finals for
the second time in three years. And listen, I'm not
the biggest Jalen Brown fan in the world. I like
his game. I think his handle's still in question. He
(04:39):
did side note leading up to the NBA Draft. He
was working out at my gym and I got a
peek in the window at him and I was like, Oh,
this guy's pretty nice. I didn't think he was a
top five pick. He has emerged as a top fifteen
player in the NBA. That's undeniable. And you guys, I'm
sure have seen the movie Gladiator. I don't know what
it is with me referencing these old school war movies yesterday, today, Gladiator.
(05:01):
But Jalen Brown's quotes last night where he was so,
you know, seething with anger, it reminds me of Gladiator
where Russell Crowe said I will have my vengeance in
this life for the next. I'm sure you remember that
classic line listen. Jalen Brown is getting his vengeance, and
he kind of had a good finals a couple of
years ago against the Warriors, then petered out in the
last few games, and again, you know, the offensive skill
(05:23):
set not totally there. He dropped forty last night though.
Jalen Brown getting his revenge for the All NBA snub,
and the Celtics look like they're hurtling toward another trip
to the NBA Finals. All right, I want to quickly
pivot to the NFL and Jordan Love, Colin Cowherd's favorite quarterback.
I don't know, it's a battle between him and Jared Goff.
(05:44):
This is a situation now in Green Bay. We're not
at def Con one, probably at def Con three. So
Jordan Love famously drafted in the first round. They traded
up for him. Rogers was oh, he was so ticked off.
He used that as vengeance and went and got two
MVP awards in a row. The Packers were at the
top of the NFC, just couldn't break through. So Love
(06:04):
sits for two years, then sits for a third, started
just one game in his first three years, and then
they have the beef with Rogers and he moves on
and Rodgers is angry and pouting. Whatever Jordan Love starts
last year kind of okay, he was nothing special mid
as the kids like to say. And then what happened
in the second half of the season, final eight games,
(06:25):
Jordan Love was dominant, eighteen touchdowns, one interception you tossed
in the play in games. And look at how Jordan
Love ended the season spectacular fashion, no doubt, emerging as
maybe a top ten quarterback in the league. I think
it's in play. I don't know that he's there yet,
but it's only half a season and a couple playoff
games to build on. He did look good against Dallas
(06:47):
and dak on the road and then nearly went to
San France and pulled off the win. That was a
great game. But all arrows are pointing up in Green Bay.
You know, Jordan Love basically has the vibes through the
roof in Green Bay. However, however, there's always a hell. However,
his contract situation is a little tricky, so they decided
(07:10):
we're gonna renegotiate you last year, and Jordan Love only
basically had a one year guarantee. So now he blows
up last season and He's essentially saying, show me the money.
The media asked Jordan Love.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
What does the future hold?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So if you don't get a deal, are you gonna
not show up for training camp. Here's Jordan Love talking
to the media this week. I don't really know what's
going on, but we'll see. But I'm not gonna get
into too much contract stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Is that would you be comfortable playing under the current deal.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Or is that something that you don't want to do
with this pay. We'll see. I don't know yet, you know,
we'll see. M gosh I love a good quarterback controversy.
Now listen, this may be a nontroversy. This may be
done in a couple of weeks. But I've talked about
compound interests before on this show. People love when I
get all financial. The best things in life come from
compound interest learning, finances, obviously, relationships. Trust. Nobody knows this
(08:04):
better than the Green Bay Packers. You had Brett Fahr
for fifteen years at your starting quarterback. Then you transition
to Aaron Rodgers, who gave you fourteen years. Folks, that's
almost three decades with only two quarterbacks. Do you know?
And I referenced the Jets or my team earlier. You know,
the Jets would just kill for one guy to last
fifteen years. That's it.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Give me one.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Quarterback that I can invest in and build that compound interest.
So I'm not shuttling around looking for a quarterback every
few years because it ain't fun. It's not I remember
a guy the Jets had in the eighties, Ken O'Brien.
I was like, Oh, he's the guy, he's the man. Okay,
he had a ceiling. Didn't last ten years with the Jets,
wasn't a starter for fifteen, didn't bring us to a
super Bowl. Yeah, I can say us. You look at
(08:49):
the Miami Dolphins. They're the quintessential example. Dan Marino, superstar,
goes to the Super Bowl in year two. You think
you got him, he sticks around forever. You don't get back.
You You've seen the carousela quarterbacks in Miami since Dan
Marino retired. They're still searching. They don't even know if
t was the guy. Once you find the one, you
(09:10):
lock that in. Whether it's relationships, I said, learning investing
compound interest wins, and the Green Bay Packers can make
this very easy. They can look at Jordan Love and
say you're our next guy for fifteen years. We believe
in you. That second half of the season, we love it.
There's a reason we trade it up to grab you, Jordan,
(09:30):
because you're our guy.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Now.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
You're not going to get fifty five million a year. Sorry,
you're not Burrow at this stage, we haven't seen it.
And he says, well, Jared Goff got fifty three million.
I know he's got a better body of work than me,
but I don't know. I was okay against him head
to head, and I don't think they're much better than us.
You look at our team. We got young head coach,
(09:52):
we got young skill position players. The Packers are really
set up as one of the better young rosters in
the league. Compound interest, keep me, pay me, And then
it becomes well, what do you pay the guy? And
you know you could argue Packers are gonna hold firm.
He's getting paid this season. We don't need to pay him. Sure,
you can be jerks about it and do that and
really tick off your franchise quarterback who you want sticking
(10:15):
around for the next ten years, or you can make
it easy and show the man his money. I'm not
saying you got to pay him fifty three million, like
Jared Goff. I don't know that he's got the body
of work that's Warren's fifty three mil. But I don't
know Trevor Lawrence is gonna get paid here in short order.
And you can't tell me with a straight face that
Trevor Lawrence, who I love. I was a huge Trevor
Lawrence fan of Clemson. You can't tell me that he
(10:37):
has been demonstratively better than Jordan Love. He just has not.
And Jordan Love, I know it's only one season as
a starter, but you've got something to build on with
the continuity in that organization. A lot of young skill
position guys, very young coach. I don't see why they
can't just pony up the money. Now the question becomes,
well what happens if they don't? Is he going to
(10:58):
really hold out? And since the new collective bargain agreement,
we haven't seen a quarterback really hold out now. Chris
Jones of the Chiefs held out last year. It blew
up in his face, a total disaster. He regrets doing it.
Bosa in San fran different story. They were able to
wave his fines for his holdout. He got his money
(11:18):
everything's copasetic. What's gonna happen with Jordan Love. Do the
Packers decide they're gonna play hardball or do they say, Hey,
we want to build something special here. We've got our guy.
We don't want to go the franchise tag route. We
don't want to do that. Remember kirk Cousins in Washington
hated the franchise tag. Washington liked kirk Cousins. They didn't
want to put a ring on it. And they were like, oh, well,
(11:39):
franchise tag you like, We trust that we're gonna be together.
Well two franchise tags later, he's out the door and
Washington's scrambling and they're going through the Taylor Heinekens of
the world and the Ryan Fitzpatricks. Now maybe they have
their guy in Jaye Daniels, but it's been a tough
go since kirk Cousins left. When you have the one
and they think Jordan Love is the one, you gotta
lock it up. I don't think there's any doubt your
(12:00):
love is gonna get paid. I know the guy who
usually sits in this chair wants to preach patience. Let's
see some more. Doesn't work like that. Jordan Love doesn't
have all the power, but he's got some power. And
I believe the Packers will get this done this offseason
before training camp and things will look good. Arrow pointing
up for the Green Bay Packers. The vibes are good,
(12:20):
there are they not, Alex, that was a good take.
Vibes are high.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
The thing is is, like I love how teams like
pretend like, oh, we can't pay the guy. It's the
most important position on the field. You're gonna have to
pay a quarterback if you want a good quarterback. The
prices are only going up. So keep that in mind too,
that where the bar is now it was Burrow I
think makes the most yearly. I mean it's going to
it's going to keep rising, as we're seeing across all sports,
(12:47):
but especially the quarterback position. You have your guy, We
saw that he gelled with the team last year and
got you to the postseason.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Hey man, what's the line from the wire? Yesterday's price
is not today's price?
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
If Trevor Lawrence and Tua get paid? Yeah? And it's like,
I don't know, forty eight to fifty, Like, what do
you do with love? You can't loball the guy you're
gonna have to pay the guy.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Yeah, so sooner than later, then you might get a
little lower market value.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
That's why I think you try to go early. Jared
Goff went early. I mean they paid a lot, but
it could be worse. Like I said coming out, So
coming up next segment, the Giants paid Daniel Jones a
couple of years ago. What a disaster that was. We
tried to advise against it, but Daniel Jones said some
stuff this week about the Giants. It does not sound promising.
It's only getting worse for the worst team in New York.
(13:35):
That's back. That's next year on the Herd.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in neonon eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
We have a good NBA guest coming up. Mark Medino
will be here very shortly. I need to start the
second hour with Aaron Rodgers and my Jets, And I
know I did a lot on Rodgers yesterday and a
lot of Jets fans were not happy with it. What's
going on, guys? Although we wrote together on this Aaron Rodgers,
so he had a spirited Aaron Rodgers discussion in the
morning meeting. I have told Coward before, I think we
(14:06):
need a camera in that morning meeting because guys are
piping up saying cool things, and I had totally forgotten this.
Do you guys remember Aaron Rodgers was like a beloved
figure in the NFL. People liked Aaron Rodgers. He was wholesome,
Midwest state farm commercials, discount double check. He was like,
I don't know if he was quite the face of
(14:26):
the league, as Tom Brady was around dominating and Peyton
Manning was there, but Rogers was very well liked. He was,
you know how like there's that saying on Instagram like
he's your Hooper's favorite Hooper.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
So I love zach Lavine. I'm a big zach Lavine fan.
I will say I've got some zach Lavine stuff that
I heard this week. He's working out here in LA.
I have it from very good sources. Lakers fans just
keep an ear out. But like, I like Zack Levine,
And if I had Zack Lavine, who do you like watching?
You know? He would tell me and then I would
be like, oh, got it, got it. In the NFL,
Aaron Rodgers was that guy. Everybody liked him, and we're
(15:00):
trying to pinpoint when he went sideways, if you will.
And I don't know what it had to do with
internal stuff with the packers or whether it was COVID,
but something went down in twenty twenty and he came
out the other side as like just a different dude. He's,
you know, going in on the vaccine and conspiracy theories.
(15:21):
They just was out of character for Aaron Rodgers. I
don't know when he made the choice to get political.
Maybe he met Joe Rogan and they you know, they're
doing their own thing. It's fine, it's interesting. He's as
polarizing as he's ever been. Now, he was not polarizing,
say twenty seventeen, twenty fifteen, twenty just he just wasn't.
And you know, every time I hear polarizing and changing,
(15:42):
I think of Floyd Mayweather. And you guys know the
famous story of Floyd Mayweather. Amazing talented boxer, just a superstar,
but he wasn't getting the purse that he wanted, so
he turned villain. He went full on heel. He became
money Mayweather literally throwing cash around at the strip club.
He called devated this new personality and instantly became a
(16:03):
box office hit, and everybody wanted to get his fights,
and he's making money just hand over his He changed
fundamentally who he was now. I don't know that Aaron
Rodgers did that fully or it was that calculated, but
something went sideways. Better relationship, something with his family. I
don't know. Maybe one day Rogers will tell us. But
what I do know is that Aaron Rodgers obviously is
(16:25):
piping up a lot this week. He now believes, okay,
that the Jets the most feudal NFL organization over the
last thirteen years, the longest playoff drought in the league.
He believes they are must watch TV. Here's Aaron Rodgers
on Serious Mad Dog Radio talking about the league, the Jets,
and television.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
We are must watch TV, and that's pretty obvious. Everybody
knows that. Whether you love me or hate me, people
want to see me play. They enjoy watching me play,
and we are a team to watch this year. Not
surprising as owen people. Yeah, that's fine, whatever, I don't
care what anybody has to say about that. That's great.
You know, to me, it was rough for the league.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
I get it.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Me only playing a few plays last year. That's going
to be different this year. And you know what happens
when we play him back this year with six great
prime time games. You know what are they going to
say next year?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
You know, if I wanted to get a little conspiracy theorist,
I would wonder, well, must watch TV. I want to
talk about TV and jets. I wonder has anybody heard
about Rogers since he went down with the Achilles injury
that I don't know. Maybe he's had a camera crew
in tow the entire time calculating all everything, documenting his
(17:44):
recovery and his podcast appearances. Maybe there's a Netflix Amazon
special and the works for Aaron Rodgers. I don't know
anybody else here that Maybe Rogers sees what Peyton Manning
is doing this second act, right, Peyton Manning Omaha Productions.
I mean, they're crushing it. Maybe Aaron Rodgers sees Tom
Brady's going to Fox to do TV. Interesting. What do
(18:07):
I need to set myself up for my next act?
Do that quarterback series on Netflix that was wildly successful?
What if they just followed me around? I've got quite
an audience. It's almost as if Aaron Rodgers has been
doing this building up to something. I don't know. Is
he gonna release his own special my recovery And he's
now signaling to his tribe of fans out there, and
(18:28):
you know he's got his tribe, his guys who ride
with him through thick and thin. I don't know. You
just wonder what Aaron Rodgers is up to. Ask for
the must see TV aspect. Okay, I'm a huge Jets
fan of the are nowhere near the top five. So
I put together my top five must see TV NFL
teams this season. We'll go five to one. Here we
(18:50):
go at number five. I think this is easy. The
Chicago Bears. I mean, we're talking about a coach on
the hot seat, a number one pick who's being anointed
as maybe the next Patrick Mahomes. He looks like Mahomes.
You got new receiver and Romadonaza. I even like the
DeAndre Swift pick up. They got Keenan Allen Listen man.
This Bears team finished last season strong. The defense looked good.
(19:12):
They're in a tough division. I think the Chicago Bears.
I am fascinated to see KYLEB. Williams. I will remind
people he did look awesome at times. He had great
plays at USC. He didn't win anything, I mean maybe
a Holiday Bowl here or there, but like, I need
to see it, and I'm very fascinated to Seekayleb william
and the Bears at number four. A bit of a curveball.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Bit of a curveball.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Shane Steichen, Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts. Here's a
franchise that has not won a playoff game since Andrew
Luck retired. Okay, they almost every single year have a
new quarterback under center for Week one. Not this year.
Anthony Richardson's back, and I'm so excited to watch him
because in the flashes he showed last year, this guy
(19:55):
was dynamic as hell. They're never out of a game
because he has a howitzer for an arm and he
is a tank. He's a Cam Newton type guy running
through defenders. Now, he's got to stay healthy, that's obviously key.
But I like Shane Steichen even OC Jim Bob Cooter
has had some good times with Matt Stafford. I think
this is a legitimate wildcard team in the AFC. I
(20:15):
cannot wait to watch. Maybe I'm the only one the
Indianapolis Colts at number three. Here we go the Dallas Cowboys,
and it's not because they're America's team. It's because now
Mike McCarthy is lame duck. You don't have a contract extension.
It's DAK. We don't know what's going on there. It's
Ceedee Lamb, not at OTA's. It's Micah Parsons. He was
(20:39):
like battling a sumo wrestler two weeks ago. What's Michael
Parson's gonna do next? I mean after games, he's going
on podcasts, popping off. It feels like it's a combustible
situation in Dallas, and they have had a really good
run with DAK. It does feel like the end of
the line. I don't know what the future holds, but
I'm very curious when this goes sideways. Assuming it does,
(21:00):
there's some major fireworks expected in Dallas. Let's go to
number two. Yes, out here in Los Angeles, I cannot
wait to watch my guy, Jim Harbaugh. I do have
a lot of guys I like Harball. He does live
kind of near ish me. Now, I haven't seen him,
but I do know his kids go to a school
where a bunch of my buddy's kids go and they
say Harball every time they see him. Super friendly and nice.
(21:21):
I think he's gonna crush it, guys. I know there's
a lot of newness. You know, Keenan Allen's gone, Mike
Williams is gone. I talked earlier about compound interest and continuity. Well,
how's this for you? Are you ready? So the guy
they got at OC is Greg Roman. You know where
he was obviously with Lamar Jackson back in the day,
and he knows Harball very well. From San Francisco. They're
like Baltimore West. They got JK. Dobbins, Gus the Bus,
(21:44):
Hayden Hurst. I think that, like just that knowledge of
players and Roman and Harball, it's gonna gel quicker than
people think. I think this is a surprise team. I
really like the Chargers this year. And I just give
out the name for fantasy football guys who watch the show,
Lad Maconkey, You've got to get him early. I'm just
telling you he's in for a big year. The rookie
(22:05):
out of Georgia and number one. The team I'm most
interested in watching should be no surprise. The best team
in the NFL, the San Francisco, forty nine Ers, brock Purty,
doubters galore. Listen, it's tough for me to crowbar a
brock Purty segment on this show because the staff is
just like it's brock Purty, Folks. I'm telling you, brock
(22:26):
Purty is legit. We've got two years, two years data
on brock Purty being one of the elae quarterbacks in
the NFL. I know he's small. I know he was
the last pick in the draft. I know he's limited athletically.
I don't know. He had two playoff comebacks and should
have won the Super Bowl. The forty nine ers blew
that game, but I can't wait to watch the Niners.
The other thing, little last comment. I forgot who it was,
(22:50):
but a writer said, this is kind of a last dance,
if you will, for the forty nine ers, because one
of Ayuk or Debo is gonna be gone. Kittle's getting
up there in age, McCaffrey's got a lot of wear
and tear, and the defense is getting old at linebacker.
I don't know what the future holds. I think the
Niners win the Super Bowl this year. They've been going
to the NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl every year seemingly.
(23:11):
I think they break through this year. I cannot wait
to watch the Niners. And I know Alex Curry has
some thoughts here. I didn't include the Rams. Chiefs fans
are gonna be butt hurt. Of course, who else am
I missing?
Speaker 4 (23:23):
I'm shocked you didn't put your Jets on there. With
Rogers coming back, I mean, I'm I'm excited to watch
the Steelers. I mentioned that in the herd line, just
because of the reality show quarterback situation that's gonna go
down with Tomlin having nothing to lose, with no loyalty
to either of these guys the last year of his contract,
never having losey season one of the toughest back ends
to a schedule. I think the Steelers are on there,
(23:44):
and then obviously with Rogers must watch TV. You just
did a whole bit.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
It's tough for me with the Jets because I'm watching
them regardless, but like our non Jets fans like I
can't wait to see Gang Green this week, like it's
gonna be Rogers. Rogers is the poll that's who's getting
people to the box. Do you think they're rooting against
him more than they.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Are for It doesn't matter. That's what polarizing is. You're
gonna watch either because you love him or you hate him.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
He knows that.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app. Palli Fusco here with Tony Fusco.
You know, as the host of the number one rated
Polly and Tony Fusco Show. We get tons and tons
of fan mail every day, piles of it.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
In fact, Tony, why don't you open up one of
those letters right now and read what's inside?
Speaker 7 (24:29):
Hey, listen to this. Dear Pauli and Tony, your sports
takes the dumbest and most terribly that.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
Wait, why open this other one?
Speaker 7 (24:37):
Dear Pauli and Tony, you suck more than anyone. Wait,
try this one. Dear Paulie and Tony, you guys are
the absolute best. There you go, coming up with the
stupidest take.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Forget it.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Just listen to the Polly and Tony Fusco Show on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, well,
everybody loves our next guest. He's been covering the NBA
for Mark Medina. Mark, come on in? Did I call
him too early? Here is the long walkout? What's up, buddy?
Covering the league since twenty ten? Ready to talk about
(25:10):
the NBA playoffs? I don't know if we start with
the JV matchup or goes straight to varsity with whatever
you want to do, Let's go with Luka Doncic. I'm
such a fan. I heard this week he was compared
to and we talked about this with Rick Buker. They
compared him to Larry Bird. He got little James hard
in action. I've said he has a vision of Magic Johnson,
I don't know where are you on Luca.
Speaker 8 (25:31):
Well, Luka Doncich is a generational player. He's a special player.
I don't like the comparisons though. I mean, first of all,
I think that all those different players are distinctly different.
Magic is about passing first. Larry Bird three point specialists,
but also had a complete game. I think Luca Dodgich
is a very special star. But we're just seeing the
beginning stages of this. We know that he is a
(25:52):
special player. But prior to this past season, the knock
on him was, oh, he's trying to do too much.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
He's scoring a lot, he doesn't trust his teammates.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
We've seen growth this season, specifically with trusting his teammates,
partly because he's improved in that airing, partly because the
team is better. He's not an elite defensive player yet,
but there is a buy in with that. So special
player deserves all the accoloids, MVP candidate, but I'm not
going to compare those players.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Come on, he did have two great defensive plays in
the final, like two minutes with the steal off the
bad pass by McDaniels and then the breakup of the lob.
I think it was from Conley to Gobert. He's got
an all around game. I just I balk at the
idea that Jokicic is definitely better than him, and tell
me you are in the media. It feels like the
(26:39):
media goes for whoever wins the championship and then goes
gaga for them, and if you haven't won a title,
well you haven't won a championship. Like can we just
slow down? Luca's done more in the first five years
of his career than Jordan almost anybody else. I mean,
magic went and played with Jabbar, which is come on, yeah,
and bird was had a bunch of Hall of Famers
with him. But I don't know, Lucas first five years
have been off the charts.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
You've never seen this, There's no doubt.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
I mean, it depends each voter, but there seems big
picture that there is a carryover effect of a player's
postseason success, even though it technically is a regular season award.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
But I think that when you look at Lucas specifically
this season, he was.
Speaker 8 (27:16):
Making a lot of inroads with catching up in the
MVP race because of just how special and dominant he
was toward the latter part of the season. So I
think it's inevitable he's going to get championships, He's going
to get MVP awards. They even could happen this season
because of how well they're playing, not just with Luca Dodgers,
but Kyrie Irving being the best version of themselves, and
they have a really good supporting cast with PJ. Washington,
(27:37):
Jerreck Lively the second. They're much better defensive team, they
have a lot more scoring depth than they had in
past seasons, and it's the right ingredients at the right time.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
So where are you on Kyrie Irving? First of all
three layers question, we'll just do two number one, what
have your interactions been like with Kyrie as a reporter,
if at all, because he is a scorrely guy. And second,
is he matured past all the night sense from Boston
and Brooklyn or is this just a perfect fit in
their winnings so he's happy.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
I think it's a combination of all these things.
Speaker 8 (28:08):
He's healthier, there's no extraduit, extraanuating circumstances that explain his
absence like we saw in Brooklyn, and the fit ist better.
We'ves being able to see even on other teams when
he is available. He has a great basketball fit. He
has a great talent, He's able to be a score,
great playmaker. But his chemistry with Luca Dodgis has been
(28:29):
able to reach a deeper level because Kyrie can have
the leadership presence. Luca leads by how strong of a
player he is on the court, but he's younger, he's
not really vocal.
Speaker 5 (28:40):
Kyrie can fill that void.
Speaker 8 (28:42):
And then I think when you look at the supporting cast,
they've been dramatically upgraded compared to last season.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I even think last season the fit that.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
Kyrie Irving Luka Doncich had it was good. They just
need more time together. Immediately upon arrival, people around the
Mavericks organization would talk about how great Kyrie is behind
the scene. So I think that now that all the
other ingredients are in store, here you're seeing you know.
I think flashbacks of that title run that he had
in Cleveland could.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Have been a honeymoon could have been a honeymoon face
because we know Kyrie go will go sideways. But let
me ask HI about Donovan Mitchell. Not Donovan Mitchell, I'm
sorry Anthony Edwards. So Anthony Edwards looks to be like
a massive superstar in this league, looks to be awesome.
Last four games, it seems like defenses are starting to
figure him out. Maybe he's tired at twenty two years old,
(29:28):
which is such a cop out. I feel like we
got everybody got a little premature with Edwards and he
kind of read his the clippings. Remember they won the
first two in Denver, the Jordan nonsense starts and then
they lose three straight, like badly, where are you on Edwards?
Speaker 8 (29:44):
Oh, he's a special player, but he's young. He's gonna
have ups and downs. I think that he's going to
have bounce back performances. The good thing is I think
that he's made of the right stuff. Yeah, he's honest
and says, hey, how he wants to take on Kyrie.
But I think that he is a student of the game.
He he developing into a complete player. You've seen him
grow as a passer this season. You've seen him grow
(30:04):
as a defender this season. He's not a finished product though.
The good thing about Minnesota is they have a lot
of roster depth around him. You look at that game
seven against Ever, he did not shoot the ball well,
but play great on defense, and Karl Anthony Towns really
replaced that. I think the dynamic between Towns and Edwards
really good. They can be one A one B. Karlnathon
Towns also doesn't feel threatened by Anthony Edwards. He's you know,
(30:26):
even remarked to his trainer when he was out last
season that he thought, in a weird way as a
blessing disguise because this allows Anthony Edwards to grow. So
short term, what does that mean? This is going to
be all of a series. Dallas Minnesota could go either way.
Can make the case for both, but I think that
big picture, Anthony Edwards will bounce back, probably slow the
(30:47):
role of the hype as far as Michael Jordan goes,
but he is the real deal.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Okay, so wait, you said Carl Anthon Town's like it's
going well. Okay, Mark, Let's say Dallas wins this series.
You've seen all the financial stories written. Does not want
to pay the luxury tax historically in Minnesota paying go
bear Kat Edwards. McDaniel's got a contract. Now you've got
nas reeve got a deal. Like, They're not going to
be able to keep this core intact if they don't.
(31:11):
I don't think if they get out of the Western
Conference finals, do you think they all come back next year?
Speaker 8 (31:15):
I think they all come back, no doubt. The ownership
situation is tenuous, but keep in mind who's running the
front office, Tim Connolly. He was with the Denver Nuggets,
and you know what their play was, let's maintain continuity.
That's partly what got them to that championship run last season.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
So when you talk to Minnesota and.
Speaker 8 (31:33):
The players around there, they're not looking about trying to
make playoff noise and be that cool, fun story. They
want to win a championship. But if they fall short
of that, whether it's in the NBA Finals or in this
West Finals, I don't think it's about making dramatic changes.
It's about trying to use the continuity for momentum purposes
and that compound interest that you've been talking.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
About the nice All right, who would you rather build
around Anthony Edwards or Jason Tatum?
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Oh that's a good question.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
And I like the pros and cons of both players more,
you know, as far as their positive attributes. But if
I had to build around, I'd say Anthony Edwards killing.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Wait, where where did I go wrong with?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Okay?
Speaker 8 (32:12):
I think, well, Anthony Edwards is a little bit younger.
I mean, Jason Tatum is still in his prime and
he's young, but Andy Edwards has a few years fewer,
so that buys some time. But I think that when
you look at just what his game is all about,
he doesn't have to necessarily be a high volume score.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
I think that he is going to continue to morph
into being a playmaker role.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
Jason Tatum has done that as well and become more efficient,
but I think his natural inclination is to be that score,
and as a result of that, I think it's easier
to build a roster around Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
That will be with Jayson Tatum.
Speaker 8 (32:44):
But look, I think we're really splitting there here because
the boss is Heldic.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
They have so much depth.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
The fact that they got chrisofs Porzingis this past season.
They obviously need him in this playoffs. But prior to
his injury, that fit has been really good because it's
brought out the best and hate him brought out the
best in jail and Brown. But and he Knowwards I
think is and will continue to become an even more
special player.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Let's go to that Celtics Pacers series. Halliburton doesn't sound
like he's gonna play. Last time he had the hamstring,
he missed like ten games or something.
Speaker 8 (33:17):
Yeah, so it sounds like or dice it is the
playoffs though, I can keep that in mind. But even
before his hamstring injury, I was talking to his trainer,
Drew Handlin.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
Earlier this week.
Speaker 8 (33:27):
Yeah, he made it clear that he wasn't even fully
one hundred percent because of the back spasms. Didn't go
into great detail, but we knew ahead of time that
Tyres Halliburn was dealing with some stuff and the reality
is the Pacers.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
They are a high powered offense.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
They play well as a team, but if they don't
have Tyres Haliburt, like, they don't have a fighter chance
against Boston. But knowing how he is, my hunch is
he's going to patch everything together to at least go
down swinging.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
So I think he will play. But these hamstring injuries.
Medical staffs don't want to mess around with this.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Do you do all NBAV voting or no?
Speaker 8 (34:01):
I have in certain years, sometimes I haven't, and I'm
leaning toward even if I'm eligible for votes, I don't
want to go down that path anymore because and now
it clearly affects player contracts.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I guess. Yeah, so Halliburton got all NBA and now
he's eligible to make a billion dollars because voters voted
for him, but they didn't vote for Jalen Brown. Now
he got it last year, so he's gotten paid. It's
going to be fine. But you're right, is this something
the league needs to I don't know how you tweak it,
but tying it to all NBA does feel a little
strange to its votes that matter.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
Yeah, well, here's the thing.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
Obviously I'm biased coming from the media but I think
that that is the best pragmatic.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
Solution compared to do you have the player votes? Do
you have the coaches votes?
Speaker 8 (34:43):
Clearly the players don't take the voting seriously when it
comes to All Stars, So that's going to create more
problems and solve them. With coaches, Yeah, they obviously know
the game well, but as we see when they pick
All Star reserves, they tend to more lean lean more
toward players that have been either on winning teams or
that are veterans and that they're familiar with. And sometimes
(35:05):
that makes for the right call, but sometimes it leads
to blind spots.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
So Devin Booker being All NBA over Jalen Brown, Like,
why the hell would the Suns get two guys when
the Suns were six seed?
Speaker 8 (35:15):
Well, I think another part of this is that when
you're on a team like the Celtics, sometimes when you're
having multiple star teammates, it almost hurts your candidacy because
here's the thing, so different basketball minds, whether it's media
or other people around the league, they're split opinions on, Okay,
who deserves the larger percentage of credit for that team's success.
(35:36):
So when you're you know, competing with Jason Tatum and
Chris Hops Porzingis and a lot of good depth that
can go against you.
Speaker 5 (35:42):
But Jalen Brown definitely deserving.
Speaker 8 (35:44):
But I think the tougher part about this exercise is
when we talk about All NBA or All Star and
you say is someone deserving or not? Yes, Usually you
could say yes, but who are you taking out? Yeah,
And that's the hard part.
Speaker 5 (35:55):
I think Tyree Salivern deserves all NBA's.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Well, all right, we got about a minute left of
in Mitchell's coach just got fired, Bickerstaff. Your best guess
as to what happens with Mitchell when they present in
the extension after the finals.
Speaker 8 (36:07):
My best guess, and it is a guess because in
the NBA it's full. I think that he is going
to come back to Cleveland because of that extension, the.
Speaker 5 (36:14):
Fact that look a lot.
Speaker 8 (36:16):
You can make the case that a lot of their
shortcomings head of the fact they went up against Boston
and there's injuries. But you never know because a lot
of teams, including the Lakers, they are going to try
to make their best trade pitches to.
Speaker 5 (36:28):
Get Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 8 (36:29):
But I don't think from Cleveland's end there's gonna be
enough of an appetite that it's worth trading him.
Speaker 5 (36:34):
Even if he denies that extension, there's no.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
Way to get him to say guaranteed, can't ask for
a trade. You can't do that in because he could
just say give me the money now, sure, and then
in a year I'm out, guys, I'm done.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Trade me. Yeah, I mean, you just do that. Contraxts
don't mean anything in today's NBA.
Speaker 8 (36:47):
But it's more about if he declines that the writing
is on the wall that he might want to then
leave next summer. You want to get something in return,
but I don't think there's packages available that will be worth.
Speaker 5 (36:56):
It in Cleveland's mind to do that, all right.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Mark Medina covered the NBA for since twenty ten. My gosh,
you got to see a little Kobe, little Lebron all right.
Speaker 5 (37:06):
Little Warriors too. Yeah, a little Warriors.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
A good run, just a golden run.
Speaker 8 (37:10):
I think we're gonna see w We're both gonna see
the Indiana Fever Sparks game tonight.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Yeah. I will be there all under the W T
can't wait. I mean, I'm not betting on the game.
With my family's excited to see it.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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