May 6, 2026 • 34 mins
Colin Cowherd breaks down the Lakers Game 1 loss to the Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals and explained why Austin Reaves should take much of the blame.
He talks about why SGA's flopping continues to be a bad look for the NBA and if current and former players really want to see LeBron James fail
Plus, NBA analyst Rachel Nichols joins the show to tell Colin if Austin Reaves and LeBron are enough to carry the Lakers past OKC and why the Timberwolves were successful defensively against Victor Wembanyama in Game 1
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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
Foxsportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Here we go. It is a Wednesday. We are live.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
It is the Herd. NBA Playoff week. Good games wherever
you may be, however you may be listening or watching.
Thanks for making us part of your day. You know
how sometimes people will come up to you and they'll.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Ask, Hey, how you doing. How are things?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
They're hoping you say good. They don't want to hear
about your problems, and nobody cares in the NBA. If
you injured, you're obleaque. Over a month ago, Austin Reeves
was three for sixteen and awful last night. Nobody cares
about the injury and was great coming off an extended
(01:13):
knee hyper extended knee Game one embiide his appendix burst.
He's been great. Kate Cunningham had a collapse, long missed
eleven games. Kate Cunningham, nobody cares. He's great. Austin Reeves
last night was dreadful, aer for ten on uncontested shots.
Nobody's done that in this league since Draymond Green three
(01:34):
years ago. I understand his popularity. He's undrafted the headband,
he's scrappy. He gets a little bit better every year.
Seems like a great kid.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
He was awful.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And here's what happens. You see his limitations. So when
a team picks on you, they're not doing it in
the abstract. They have watched film on you last year
that he wolves. Chris Finch in a great staff watched
film on Austin Reeves and attacked him.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
He was bad.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Okc watched film on Austin Reeves, saw him as a
weakness and attacked him. Put ball pressure multiple, multiple turnovers.
And you saw this with Derek White of the Celtics.
Everybody's like Derek White had a down year. Know when
Derek White was a five or a four. The Celtics
were a championship team this year because the Tatum injury
(02:28):
and they moved off Porzingis and other players.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
There were knights. He was a two.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
He was often the third, and then you see the
ceiling with Derek White, who's a good player.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Austin Reeves a good player.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
But when you ask the number three starter in baseball
to be your eighth and go toe to toe with
you know, Garrett Cole, he's not. And that's my take
on Austin Reeves in his playoff career, that's the best coaches,
best teams. He gives you sixteen four and four shoots
about forty two to forty three percent. That's fine, but
(03:03):
it's not special. He is a number four on a
championship team, a number three on a decent playoff team,
but he gets hunted defensively. And both Minnesota last year
in Oklahoma City last night, they look at film, they
scout and they attack him, and they put ball pressure
(03:24):
on him and they're making sure switches. You're they want
Austin Reeves guarding one of their guys. And that's the
reality of it. And Embiid Kade Cunningham, Austin's oblique injury.
Nobody cares so far in the playoffs. The Lakers are
better with Austin Reeves not on the floor. I know
(03:48):
the oblique injury and also, here's something else to think about.
In back to back seasons, he's been injured right in
the playoffs. He's in the playoffs, he's not one hundred
percent Why because he has an undrafted athlete's body. He
doesn't have big, dominant physical traits. Caleb Williams goes number
(04:09):
one to the Bears. He's never hurt. Lebron's a number
one pick, He's never hurt. Part of being a first
round picker a number one pick is the body, the traits,
the size, the durability. I mean, big Ben didn't get
hurt until the end. Eli Manning, you know, John Elways,
Dan Marino's bigger, stronger athletes, so he's banged up. I've
(04:31):
said this about Brock Purty. It's a smaller guy gets
hurt more. Caleb Williams gets hammered. He's never hurt. That's
part of being like a number one pick. So, you know,
the big issue we're all talking about with the Lakers
next year is, hey, Lebron's going to take a pay cut.
And here's my question, is the bigger issue is Austin
(04:51):
Reeves worth thirty eight million dollars a cap hit because
his cap pit now is going to triple and he's
not a one, and he's not a two. The question
is are you a championship team if he is a three?
And I don't think you are. I think you can
win a playoff series or two. But I'm not picking
an auft the beefs. I get his popularity. I like
(05:13):
him as a player, but folks, regular season basketball is
not playoff basketball. Are you noticing what's happening in the playoffs?
Embiid and Wimby chat holme Gren's great? Why your best
players rise above schemes? Your more fraudulent players get picked on.
(05:39):
So for all the criticism Cat gets in the playoffs,
Cat now a pretty good player. Well, Cat has always
been a really good player. Flaky silly fowls can drive
you nuts. He's a big time talent. So Austin Reeves
is eligible to sign a five year, two hundred and
forty one million dollar deal, would go from fourteen million
(06:03):
to forty eight million. You think he's a forty eight
million dollar player? I know the headband undrafted scrappy gets
better every year. Let me ask you he's that a
forty eight million dollar player? Go look at the Celtics
and Derek White. I'm not being mean here. Austin Reeves,
(06:24):
he took the hit. He said, nobody cares about the
injury because I thought the Lakers that they got in
just a decent game from him. He had a real
basketball game. I mean the Lakers, I don't think they're
a very good defensive team, but they're playing their butts off.
I mean they are playing their butts off. Lebron's playing
real defense. Here's JJ Reddick.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
After you can make mistakes, there's a basketball is a
game full of mistakes. There's just too many tonight. We
got to clean that up. But you know, there were
some some good things. We want expected score. You know,
held sha under twenty. He ended up with seven turnovers.
Has played hard. We just got to do a better
job with execution. It comes down to just the attention
(07:04):
to detail on that. And I know we'll clean things up.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And Austin Reeves is twenty eight next month, five year,
dally be thirty three being old thirty three, and you're
paying him forty eight large just things to think about.
All we're all saying Lebron's got to take a pay cut.
I in this is outrageous. I don't know Lebron's really healthy.
Lebron's got that number one pick body. I mean he's
playing his butt off. I mean, you think about this.
(07:29):
Lebron James is forty one years old. He outscored SGA,
the reigning MVP, had fewer turnovers, the ragning MVPSJA had
better shooting percentage Lebron James than the raining MVP, and
all of us, myself included, are like, he needs to
(07:50):
take a pay cut. I think what I'm more scared
about is Austin Reeves tripling three and a half times
as cap hit. That's what worries me. Those are tough decisions.
Lakers deserve credit for getting him, and Austen deserves credit
for being a very very good pro. He's a good pro.
He should be proud. Parents have raised the great kid.
(08:11):
He gets better every year. He has maximized his talent.
There's nothing wrong with him. But you know, we talk
about this now. Can't make trades in the NBA. It's
brutal aprons. Caps like cap hit matters. You start constant
thirty eight, forty three, forty eight. I gotta think about everything.
(08:33):
Are you a regular season guy? You're gonna be healthy
at the end, I gotta think about everything, okay, So
I want to talk about the flopping. First of all,
Sga is a really good player. He's a fluid athlete,
one of the best mid range jumpers of all time.
He's got tight handles. He's a great player. He's an
all star player. But because the flopping is allowed and it's.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Really bad sports.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
We all know that, right, And what bothers me is
it's become a central point of the playoffs and a
central part of his game. If you do it once
a game, I'm okay with it. It's become like the
central point of his game. And the NBA is the
sport with the most creative artistic athletes, right, And this
(09:20):
is like acting versus AI acting. It's just not as authentic.
Watching him flop during an NBA game is like, to
some degree, it's like inserting one of those life alert commercials.
I've fallen and I can't get up into cert d Sola.
(09:40):
It's like, eh, kind of tears at the fabric of
the creativity of the NBA. And the NBA has always
been the sport since I was a kid in the seventies.
Doctor J like magic, David Thompson, Michael Jordan. It's our
most athletic sport, it's our most creative sport. One of
the reasons I don't like all the three point show.
It reduces athleticism. I don't want ant shooting fifteen threes.
(10:04):
I want h dunking in people's face. And I like SG.
I think he's a great player, fluid, good handles, moves well, athletic,
although not terribly vertical. But it's just bad sports. And
I do think the NBA, if they win back to
back titles, will step in and change it. NFL change
the catch role, change the pat Major League Baseball took
(10:25):
away the defensive shift. I don't think it's good television.
I don't think it's good sports. And again, just to
give you some sense of how outrageous it's become, Sga
has shot four hundred and twenty five more free throws
over the last two years, then number two, like, it's
(10:47):
just become too much of a central part of his game.
And Donovan Mitchell in another series is not getting the
calls and everybody's talking about it. Lit'st know what Donovan
Mitchell says about flopping.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
The free throw disparity is not why we lost tonight.
I want to make sure I say that, but I
don't know. I'm trying to get downhill and a friend of.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Mine got fine for talking about flop.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
I'm not gonna try to double down, but I mean,
like I feel like that's what I got to do.
At this point, I'm just not getting the calls. I
don't know why I don't flop. Maybe that's why this
isn't just a tonight thing.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So the NBA used to have a slogan where amazing happens.
Nothing amazing happens at the free throw line. So when
it becomes again, if SGA had thirteen free throws more
than the next guy, maybe even twenty three, but if
you got four hundred and twenty five more for I mean,
look at this one right there. That's an absolutely awful
(11:51):
call against the Lakers, and it's just bad sports. It's
like when we used to watch the NFL and the
guy make a great catch and they're like, well it
kind of wiggle by his elbow.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
No catch.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
NFL is like, it's bad TV. It's bad sports. Defensive shift.
Bryce Harper hits a bolt and the second basement standing
in right field catches it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
That's bad sports.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
I want to see Bryce Harper when he rips a ball,
I want to see it it drop unless he's it,
you know. I don't want to see clean hits of
a ninety six mile hour slitty get caught by a
second basement standing in right. So I think the NBA,
and they've done they've done this before, hack a shack handcheck.
I mean, they've done this multiple times to elevate the
(12:34):
quality of the overall product and the television product.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
They've tweaked it, and I think we're getting to that point.
So J Mack, listen. I know you love Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
I know you do, and I'm not trying to pick
on him because he had a bad night, but it does.
You know, here's the reality outside of baseball, salaries matter
a lot. I mean, in baseball you can diffirm if
you want, which is crazy, but you can.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And that's the thing with Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Three and a half times the cap hit, So again,
he's going to be paid like a two and he's
closer to a three or a four. And this is
Boston felt this with Derek White this year because the
Tatum injury, there were nights, he had to be a two. Well,
Jalen Brown's like a great two or a good one.
Jalen Brown would be the best three in the league
(13:23):
by a mile. Derek White's a four on a great
team that won great Celtics team.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
He was almost a five.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
But now you you elevate him, you know, to the
number two starter in the rotation, and you're like, well,
Derek White wasn't as good this year. He's being guarded
by better players. He has to guard better players. You're
elevating to a spot he's not really as suited for. So,
I mean, a forty eight million dollar cap hit would
be bigger right now than Kate Gunningham and ant Okay.
Speaker 6 (13:52):
Let's settle down bassing Austin Reeves off one game when
he is barely removed from an oblique injury.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
That kept them out for a month ago.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
We got three years of data bro on Austin Reeves
that he's a really good player, and honestly, the blueprint
is there for Luca. He took the Maps to the
finals with Kyrie Irving as his wingman. If you can
get eighty five percent of Kyrie Irving from Austin Reeves,
I think you're going to be just fine. Now, the
question is can Reeves stay healthy. Remember, Kyrie Irving also
had many issues with injuries.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Lo frail the time.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I don't believe historically we're gonna view Austin Reeves as
eighty five percent of Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
Kyrie Irving, Kyrie Irving, but Dallas Kyrie Irv.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Well, yeah, but prime Kyrie Irving won a title. He
was spectacular.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
I'm just talking about the Dallas one who was a
wingman to Luca.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
They need you to create a little bit, Yeah, but
they that wasn't prime Kyrie and he was multiple injured Kyrie,
and they didn't win a title. The Lakers win titles.
They don't care about going to the finals. You got
to get there to win it though. I mean, Lakers
are barely getting out of the first round.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Now, you.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Is not sixty percent, really prime Kyrie. Kyrie Irving at
his prime is the great eight. Is small, ambidexterous finisher
in the history of the league.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Go back to the Celtics team.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Definitely, There's never been a finisher both hands that size
in the history of the sport of Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
But that's the thing he wasn't prime in Dallas when
they went to the finals.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
He was just good, you're really into this, went to
the finals. You got win win, wouldn't Why is Michael
Jordan considered the greatest player six for six in the finals?
Magic went to thirty percent more, but he lost a
third of them going to the finals. Didn't the Pacers
(15:37):
just get to the finals?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
What does it mean?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Does it mean anything seeing a trip to the finals.
Rick Smith's got to the finals. Nobody cares. They don't
care about your olbleaque injury. They don't care that you
got to the finals Los Angeles. When it comes to
baseball and it comes to Lakers, there are certain things
like Ohio State football, we played in a Natty.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Who cares you didn't win?
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Ohio State is one of the Duke doesn't brag about,
you know, we got to the final four.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Duke brags if they win.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I mean that's what the Lakers are their standard is
I mean Austin Reeves is a top ten jersey seller.
What team's third best player is a top ten jersey seller? Yeah,
and for the record, Kyrie was a number one one
overall pick. Yes, So let's not kill our those about
who's undress seven to eight year.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Period that Kyrie was.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I mean, honestly, after Stephan, Lebron was as good a
player and watch as the league had, the whole sport had.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Yeah, he needed Lebron to get to the playoffs and win.
He could do nothing by himself. Austin Reeves is a one,
no shot as a two. I'm buying that. Remember fifteen
and two in March Colin with Austin Reeves as the
two Lebron seeding to the three.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah again March.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 3 (17:02):
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Speaker 7 (17:05):
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Speaker 3 (17:15):
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Speaker 3 (17:34):
Here we go. It's our two. We're live Jmack and
La Me and Chicago. It's the herd You No, I was.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
My least favorite event in America is the met Gala.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
They do it every year.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
It's it's the least relatable moment in America. It's just
I look at it and I think, oh, you couldn't
pay it.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
But I'm not an artist, so little, but it made me.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Somebody asked Meryl Streep why she wasn't there, And somebody
asked Meryl Streep, who's probably the greatest actor in my life.
They asked her, are you not going? Are you protesting
Jeff Bezos? And she said, no, Mett Gayala is just
not my vibe. And I've never loved Meryl Streep more.
But she's been nominated more than any actor ever Oscar nominated.
(18:28):
And she's also has nine movies that have lower than
a fifty percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And you know,
whatever you think of that, I kind of trust it.
Not necessarily. The point is, the longer you do something,
even if you're Meryl Streep great or lebron, you're going
to get criticism and basketball players and pro athletes are artists,
(18:52):
and you're not coming out of this thing alive or unscathed.
And you know, Rich Paul, who's represent under Lebron forever,
was talking about the fact that literally, sometimes you know clients,
He'll try to get clients and they don't want to
go with him because he represents Lebron, which it sounds outrageous,
(19:13):
but here he is.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
The reason why you don't hear a lot of conversation
about Jokich is because I don't believe people are happy
to see Jokag lose. But when Lebron loses, people are
happy to see him lose. There's something about that, especially
his peers, guys that played in the league that have
(19:36):
platforms today for different reasons.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
It's extra they are happy to see him lose. Yeah,
it's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I mean, think about Lebron comes into the NBA as
a kid, and his big missteps in twenty three years
are he broke up with the Cavaliers on TV. Although
I give a million dollars to the Boys and Girls
Club in Connecticut, that was a big one. I guess
it freaked people out. The tweet ripping Darryl Moury for
(20:07):
defending protesters in China. Again, it's Twitter that apparently got
people worked up. And then you know, the Lakers drafted Brownie.
Wasn't heavy handed by Rich Paul lebron I defended it
because it was a horrible draft. It was middle to
late second round. And Bronnie's a good kid who works
his butt off. I actually know a couple of people
that know Bronnie. He's a really good kid. He works
(20:29):
really hard. Again, I can't lose sleep over all this stuff,
but I'll say it again, if you are Meryl Streep
is the best actor of my lifetime. And she's been
nominated more than anybody. But she's been around so long
and she's still amazing. Is that she's got eight or
nine movies that haven't worked for the general consensus of
(20:50):
the public.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Like, it's just the reality of it.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Lebron's been around so long, you're gonna misstep, You're gonna
step in it. And by and large, he's I think
he's not only a remarkable basketball players and remarkable human.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter. They're not a im pacific.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Rachel Nichols covers the NBA Fox Sports. Okay, she joins
US live. So listen, you have you deal with us
all the time. You talk to people in locker rooms.
You know a lot of times. You know, you can
tell when you've been doing this. There's things that are
said that they don't want Rachel to go. I talked
to JJ Reddick, yes, And then there are things they'll
(21:28):
they'll go on the record with.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
I would imagine you hear a lot about this.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, off the record because they don't they don't want
to rip officials.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
But you hear this a lot in the league.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Well, you have two categories of guys, right, You have
guys who are a bit reliant on it with their game,
and they'll sit there and tell you it's part of
the game, and he does it, why shouldn't I do it?
And look, there are anti flopping measures that have been
instituted in the NBA in the past couple of years.
We had I think in twenty twenty three, twenty four
it was a trial rule, and then the year after
it was adopted as a real permanent rule. That's when
(21:59):
they put in official flopping penalties, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, that
officials can call. So the NBA will tell you we've
already addressed this. Your point, though, on the point of
the other portion of players I talk to is hey,
it's not working. Guys are still doing it and it's
ruining some of the flow of the game. And so
the question is the rule is already there. It's there
(22:19):
kind of almost recently, so they're not going to put
in a new rule. But what I do think might
happen in this offseason is you might see them talk
to the refs about making it a quote point of emphasis.
And that's what the NBA does when they feel like
the rule is in place but it's not being called enough,
and they say going into the season, this is a
quote point of emphasis.
Speaker 10 (22:37):
And then at the beginning of the season.
Speaker 9 (22:39):
I know a lot of fans don't realize this, and
officiating crew will go around and talk to every single
team during the preseason, have a meeting with them with
visual aids and say these will be our points of emphasis.
Speaker 10 (22:51):
Be warned.
Speaker 9 (22:51):
So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little
bit of more of that in the beginning of the
preseason next year.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
You know, I've said this with part of take baseball
out of where there's no salary cap. But a big
part of I mean great players like A J. Brown
got moved out of Tennessee. And I remember Mike Vrabel's
reaction to the press conference. It was like, I just
lost my offense, Like it happens all the time. Austin Reeves'
(23:16):
cap HiT's gonna triple plus, triple plus. And we saw
this Rachel with Derek White. Derek White, if he is
a four, you can win a championship this year. He
was often asked during the Tatum injury to be a two,
and he didn't play as well. Right, you're asking him
now to guard better players, and you're running more of
the offense through him, and then there are limitations based
(23:38):
on just physical traits. And I look at Austin Reeves.
I would love Austin at certain prices. It's Baker Mayfield
at thirty five million. He is a steel At fifty
five million, I'm gonna draft the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
These new owners, you know this.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
In Los Angeles, they moved off Corey Seeger Bellinger, Manny Machado.
They've moved off stars because the numbers don't work. Three,
I mean forty eight million dollar cap hit for Austin
Reeves is there. I mean, if he has a couple
more games like this in the series, does the brain
trust say, guys, this is punitive now?
Speaker 10 (24:14):
I don't think so.
Speaker 9 (24:15):
Look, he Austin Reeves showed them through an entire season
what he could do. The way he compliments Luca, Luca
loves having him around, and keeping Luca happy is very
important to the Lakers, not just in terms of long
term contract stuff, but Luca is an emotional player and
when he's happy, he plays better. So that is important
for all the on the court and frankly off court
reasons too. Austin Reeves had an oblique injury that should
(24:37):
have kept him out for at least six weeks, probably
eight weeks, and he came back early.
Speaker 10 (24:42):
And that is to me what we saw last night.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
He is not himself out there, and I think, if anything,
he's going to get credit from the organization for trying
to play through it, because at least if you're a
body out there, you're someone that they have to guard,
especially if you are an offensive talent like Reeves. So
I expect him to sort of work his way back
through this series. Obviously, the Thunder one of the best
defensive teams in the league, so they're going to make
it extra hard on him, and he is still hurting,
(25:06):
and the hours he spends in the training room right
now our evidence of that. So I don't think anyone's
going to count this series or that performance last night,
which was terrible. But I don't think it's going to
count against him in coach contract negotiations this summer.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
So, you know, considering Lebron has been in the public
eye for twenty three years, his missteps may have been
a tweet about China. The public breakup of the Cavs
was a little rough, you know, the brawny thing. Did
he and Rich Paul I defended that it was a
terrible draft. It was second round. Brownie's a good kid.
He plays hard. He's actually better than I thought he
(25:40):
would be in there.
Speaker 10 (25:40):
They needed him in the last round.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
By the way, Yeah, it was better than I thought.
But Rich Pa, I want you to react to this.
Here's Rich Paul talking about Lebron and what he deals with.
Speaker 8 (25:51):
The reason why you don't hear a lot of conversation
about Joki is because I don't believe people are happy
to see Jo loose. But when Lebron loses, people are
happy to see him lose. There's something about this, especially
his peers, guys that played in the league that have
(26:11):
platforms today for different reasons.
Speaker 10 (26:15):
It's extra they are happy to see him lose.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
It's sad. What do you make of that?
Speaker 10 (26:22):
Damn straight they are?
Speaker 9 (26:23):
You know why, because Lebron bullied the entire league for
about two decades. This is the case of the guy
who not only sort of capped careers. There are players
in this league, many many elite players in this league
who would have titles, who would have rings if not
for Lebron. And we said that about Michael Jordan the
years he played, right, think about the players that we
(26:43):
can point to, they definitely would have had a ring
if not for Michael Jordan. Well, Lebron has been bullying
guys for a lot longer than Michael Jordan ever did.
Speaker 10 (26:52):
Think about it.
Speaker 9 (26:52):
You talked about players with platforms. Paul George, Right, he's
still in the league, but he has a podcast. His
career would have gone completely different in the East when
he was in Indiana if not for Lebron James, there
were entire franchises who built up and then got destroyed
by Lebron and then had to build down again. The
Toronto Raptors, obviously, the Indiana Piecers. The Boston Celtics dynasty,
(27:13):
if it was one, was broken up by Lebron James,
So of course they're happy when he has a misstep
or when things go poorly for him.
Speaker 10 (27:20):
They were on the other end of those fisticuffs for
so long.
Speaker 9 (27:24):
I think it's really just a testament to Lebron's greatness
more than it says anything about anyone else.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
In Wemby hasn't been around long enough to be a villain.
But I could see people in the league being like,
you know, you media people are giving him flowers that
his offensive game isn't even refined yet. I wonder if
you pulled there was a poll that came out in
(27:48):
the Athletic to day overright underrated. You guys should get
it to me. How do you if you have If
you polled NBA players and you said t Wolves or Spurs.
My gut is the players would root for Ant. They
like Ant, and I think they like kind of the toughness.
You know that Julius Randall, the Naws read. I find
Minnesota easy to root for. They're just veterans. You're not overlooked,
(28:13):
but you know, not always aesthetically beautiful players. Outside of Ant,
who do you think players are rooting for around the
league in that series?
Speaker 9 (28:21):
I think guys like both of these teams, you know,
I think there's a lot of respect around the league
for you know, what the Wolves are, the way they
are able to ratchet it up in the playoffs after
having these you know, characteristically now uneven seasons.
Speaker 10 (28:33):
Chris Finch is very respected around the league.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
ANT you know, has a lot of guys attention by
the way he plays both sides of the floor and
the way that he frankly just has that you know
it factor, the charisma. But I actually think that other
players like Wemby and have a ton of respect for
him and don't think he's overrated. You have guys all
season who have made the point that he is just
completely on another level from them, you know, throughout throughout
(28:56):
the year and what they project for him for the
rest of his career. I mean, Jalen Brown at one
point during the season said I think right now I'm
the best two way player in the league, and then
at the end of that sentence, he paused, and he goes,
of course, you know, non Wemby division.
Speaker 10 (29:09):
I mean literally, that is what he said. Guys call
him an alien.
Speaker 9 (29:12):
That nickname has really stuck with the other players around
the league. I don't think they think he's overrated at
this point at all. I do think what we saw
with him last night was that players think they have
a little bit of a window of opportunity right now
when he still is new and fresh and hasn't figured
everything out, and the book on him all season because
he's played so well, has been that the only way
(29:33):
to stop him offensively is to really get up under him,
and that is what we saw the Timberwolves do last night.
Speaker 10 (29:39):
They jammed him.
Speaker 9 (29:40):
They jammed him in the chest, in the hip, and
they take away some of the power of that first step,
which is just so lethal with Wemby. And it also
means that he just gets discombompulated and he's not used
to dealing with that yet. I'm interested, Colin in what
you think about how he's going to adjust for the
rest of the series, because I kept saying over you know,
during our predictions phase of these playoffs, I think the
(30:00):
Spurs youth will show at times during these playoffs. But
Wenby is such a student of the game. I expect
him to come back in the next game knowing better
how to deal with it, or do you think that
he just doesn't.
Speaker 10 (30:10):
Have it yet.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I think it's a bad matchup a little bit for
San Antonio because if you take out the COVID year
where older players missed their wives and families and they
were like, I mean, like Lebron talked about that, like
I had to get the guys together and say, guys,
this is brutal. We're playing, you know, the theme park,
but it was rough on older players. So younger players
(30:32):
for the only time in my life, kind of took
the playoffs over Yah, right, single guys, no kid, they
were just having fun. The playoffs are mostly about old
guys that can manipulate the refs, guys that can make
adjustments in the fourth quarter. I said at the other night,
when these games go into the fourth. The minute that
Game one went to the fourth, I'm like, oh, no,
Minnesota had a four point lead, five point lead, it
(30:53):
was their game. Yeah, And I think it's a I
think it's a tough matchup. I I think if you
took every NBA roster, and you just said we're going
to do strength tests and physical tests.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Minnesota would win.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
I think they have the Randall Nas McDaniel go bear.
I think experience, wisdom, length, toughness. I think Wenby's going
to have. I mean, listen, he struggled in Game one
at home. I think there's a little bit of a
book on him. I think you said it. I think
(31:30):
Randall Nas. I think those guys are bad matchups. I
don't think it's going to be a great serious form
And you know the arther thing, Rachel. He's not a
creative or an initiator. He's a disruptor on the defensive
end and he's a finisher on the offensive end. But
he does need people to engineer or initiate the He's
not Jokics that way. He's more Kareem. You know, he's
(31:52):
the finisher and the disruptor. When you put Magic with Kareem,
that's a dynasty. So I means this is a seven
game series.
Speaker 9 (32:02):
Yeah, for sure. Absolutely we thought we would see that
in these two. But I'm sure you guys have seen
the Embid news. We'll see what happens there. I'm very
curious to see how the Sixers operate tonight with Joel
Embiid ruled out because are we going to see Tyrese
Maxi take over that game or are they just gonna
have to let Cat run wild and then they're not
gonna have an answer for him and we're going to
(32:23):
see another dominant performance from the Knicks. I just don't
know how competitive this east side of the bracket is
going to be.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Totally agree, Rachel Nichols, covering the NBA since nineteen ninety three.
Good senior, righte, Thanks you bet. Yeah, that's a bummer
on Joel Embiid. Although they were seven and a half
point favorite with Embid, now they're ten and a half.
So you know, it's interesting. Embid dominates. The Boston series
has given Kat huge problems and the number only moves
(32:50):
two and a half three points.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I mean, you know, and it.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Goes to show in short spurts, in very very short spurts,
you can lose your start. The first two games of
the Houston series without Luca Ayton and Ruie and Luke
Kenard were great. Then you get a lot of game film,
then you can go back and prepare them. By game three,
(33:15):
Houston should have won that game by game three, your
feeling is, yeah, they miss Luca. So you're generally speaking
for a game or too. Like in football, sometimes you
can for a half can you can overcome on scheme,
but eventually, if you have Christian McCaffrey in the lineup
or Trent Williams the Niners. Later in games, you don't
want to back up quarterback. If Brock pretty stowing thirty
(33:35):
eight times, you don't want to back up left tackle.
You can overcome it early, take a lead schemes, try
to run, but if you fall behind, you're in big trouble.
I think tonight Philadelphia will play hair on fire. I
think they'll be super aggressive. I think it'll be competitive.
But you know, if you go back to the regular season,
the games in the regular season that we all watched
(33:58):
were Okay Ces San Antonio Oka See. San Antonio had
their number, but if they played again, we'd probably take
Oka See. And the games we talked about in the
East this year were the Detroit Nick games, which Detroit controlled.
(34:19):
Detroit controlled in the regular season, I would probably take
the Knicks, and that shows you the divide between the
regular season.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
And the postseason.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
I would take okay See over San Antonio, though the
Spurs dominated the regular season, I would take the Knicks
over the Pistons, although Detroit pushed them around in the
regular season. It's a different sport.
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
Foxsportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Here we go. It is a Wednesday. We are live.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
It is the Herd. NBA Playoff week. Good games wherever
you may be, however you may be listening or watching.
Thanks for making us part of your day. You know
how sometimes people will come up to you and they'll.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Ask, Hey, how you doing. How are things?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
They're hoping you say good. They don't want to hear
about your problems, and nobody cares in the NBA. If
you injured, you're obleaque. Over a month ago, Austin Reeves
was three for sixteen and awful last night. Nobody cares
about the injury and was great coming off an extended
(01:13):
knee hyper extended knee Game one embiide his appendix burst.
He's been great. Kate Cunningham had a collapse, long missed
eleven games. Kate Cunningham, nobody cares. He's great. Austin Reeves
last night was dreadful, aer for ten on uncontested shots.
Nobody's done that in this league since Draymond Green three
(01:34):
years ago. I understand his popularity. He's undrafted the headband,
he's scrappy. He gets a little bit better every year.
Seems like a great kid.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
He was awful.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
And here's what happens. You see his limitations. So when
a team picks on you, they're not doing it in
the abstract. They have watched film on you last year
that he wolves. Chris Finch in a great staff watched
film on Austin Reeves and attacked him.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
He was bad.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Okc watched film on Austin Reeves, saw him as a
weakness and attacked him. Put ball pressure multiple, multiple turnovers.
And you saw this with Derek White of the Celtics.
Everybody's like Derek White had a down year. Know when
Derek White was a five or a four. The Celtics
were a championship team this year because the Tatum injury
(02:28):
and they moved off Porzingis and other players.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
There were knights. He was a two.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
He was often the third, and then you see the
ceiling with Derek White, who's a good player.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Austin Reeves a good player.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
But when you ask the number three starter in baseball
to be your eighth and go toe to toe with
you know, Garrett Cole, he's not. And that's my take
on Austin Reeves in his playoff career, that's the best coaches,
best teams. He gives you sixteen four and four shoots
about forty two to forty three percent. That's fine, but
(03:03):
it's not special. He is a number four on a
championship team, a number three on a decent playoff team,
but he gets hunted defensively. And both Minnesota last year
in Oklahoma City last night, they look at film, they
scout and they attack him, and they put ball pressure
(03:24):
on him and they're making sure switches. You're they want
Austin Reeves guarding one of their guys. And that's the
reality of it. And Embiid Kade Cunningham, Austin's oblique injury.
Nobody cares so far in the playoffs. The Lakers are
better with Austin Reeves not on the floor. I know
(03:48):
the oblique injury and also, here's something else to think about.
In back to back seasons, he's been injured right in
the playoffs. He's in the playoffs, he's not one hundred
percent Why because he has an undrafted athlete's body. He
doesn't have big, dominant physical traits. Caleb Williams goes number
(04:09):
one to the Bears. He's never hurt. Lebron's a number
one pick, He's never hurt. Part of being a first
round picker a number one pick is the body, the traits,
the size, the durability. I mean, big Ben didn't get
hurt until the end. Eli Manning, you know, John Elways,
Dan Marino's bigger, stronger athletes, so he's banged up. I've
(04:31):
said this about Brock Purty. It's a smaller guy gets
hurt more. Caleb Williams gets hammered. He's never hurt. That's
part of being like a number one pick. So, you know,
the big issue we're all talking about with the Lakers
next year is, hey, Lebron's going to take a pay cut.
And here's my question, is the bigger issue is Austin
(04:51):
Reeves worth thirty eight million dollars a cap hit because
his cap pit now is going to triple and he's
not a one, and he's not a two. The question
is are you a championship team if he is a three?
And I don't think you are. I think you can
win a playoff series or two. But I'm not picking
an auft the beefs. I get his popularity. I like
(05:13):
him as a player, but folks, regular season basketball is
not playoff basketball. Are you noticing what's happening in the playoffs?
Embiid and Wimby chat holme Gren's great? Why your best
players rise above schemes? Your more fraudulent players get picked on.
(05:39):
So for all the criticism Cat gets in the playoffs,
Cat now a pretty good player. Well, Cat has always
been a really good player. Flaky silly fowls can drive
you nuts. He's a big time talent. So Austin Reeves
is eligible to sign a five year, two hundred and
forty one million dollar deal, would go from fourteen million
(06:03):
to forty eight million. You think he's a forty eight
million dollar player? I know the headband undrafted scrappy gets
better every year. Let me ask you he's that a
forty eight million dollar player? Go look at the Celtics
and Derek White. I'm not being mean here. Austin Reeves,
(06:24):
he took the hit. He said, nobody cares about the
injury because I thought the Lakers that they got in
just a decent game from him. He had a real
basketball game. I mean the Lakers, I don't think they're
a very good defensive team, but they're playing their butts off.
I mean they are playing their butts off. Lebron's playing
real defense. Here's JJ Reddick.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
After you can make mistakes, there's a basketball is a
game full of mistakes. There's just too many tonight. We
got to clean that up. But you know, there were
some some good things. We want expected score. You know,
held sha under twenty. He ended up with seven turnovers.
Has played hard. We just got to do a better
job with execution. It comes down to just the attention
(07:04):
to detail on that. And I know we'll clean things up.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And Austin Reeves is twenty eight next month, five year,
dally be thirty three being old thirty three, and you're
paying him forty eight large just things to think about.
All we're all saying Lebron's got to take a pay cut.
I in this is outrageous. I don't know Lebron's really healthy.
Lebron's got that number one pick body. I mean he's
playing his butt off. I mean, you think about this.
(07:29):
Lebron James is forty one years old. He outscored SGA,
the reigning MVP, had fewer turnovers, the ragning MVPSJA had
better shooting percentage Lebron James than the raining MVP, and
all of us, myself included, are like, he needs to
(07:50):
take a pay cut. I think what I'm more scared
about is Austin Reeves tripling three and a half times
as cap hit. That's what worries me. Those are tough decisions.
Lakers deserve credit for getting him, and Austen deserves credit
for being a very very good pro. He's a good pro.
He should be proud. Parents have raised the great kid.
(08:11):
He gets better every year. He has maximized his talent.
There's nothing wrong with him. But you know, we talk
about this now. Can't make trades in the NBA. It's
brutal aprons. Caps like cap hit matters. You start constant
thirty eight, forty three, forty eight. I gotta think about everything.
(08:33):
Are you a regular season guy? You're gonna be healthy
at the end, I gotta think about everything, okay, So
I want to talk about the flopping. First of all,
Sga is a really good player. He's a fluid athlete,
one of the best mid range jumpers of all time.
He's got tight handles. He's a great player. He's an
all star player. But because the flopping is allowed and it's.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Really bad sports.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
We all know that, right, And what bothers me is
it's become a central point of the playoffs and a
central part of his game. If you do it once
a game, I'm okay with it. It's become like the
central point of his game. And the NBA is the
sport with the most creative artistic athletes, right, And this
(09:20):
is like acting versus AI acting. It's just not as authentic.
Watching him flop during an NBA game is like, to
some degree, it's like inserting one of those life alert commercials.
I've fallen and I can't get up into cert d Sola.
(09:40):
It's like, eh, kind of tears at the fabric of
the creativity of the NBA. And the NBA has always
been the sport since I was a kid in the seventies.
Doctor J like magic, David Thompson, Michael Jordan. It's our
most athletic sport, it's our most creative sport. One of
the reasons I don't like all the three point show.
It reduces athleticism. I don't want ant shooting fifteen threes.
(10:04):
I want h dunking in people's face. And I like SG.
I think he's a great player, fluid, good handles, moves well, athletic,
although not terribly vertical. But it's just bad sports. And
I do think the NBA, if they win back to
back titles, will step in and change it. NFL change
the catch role, change the pat Major League Baseball took
(10:25):
away the defensive shift. I don't think it's good television.
I don't think it's good sports. And again, just to
give you some sense of how outrageous it's become, Sga
has shot four hundred and twenty five more free throws
over the last two years, then number two, like, it's
(10:47):
just become too much of a central part of his game.
And Donovan Mitchell in another series is not getting the
calls and everybody's talking about it. Lit'st know what Donovan
Mitchell says about flopping.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
The free throw disparity is not why we lost tonight.
I want to make sure I say that, but I
don't know. I'm trying to get downhill and a friend of.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Mine got fine for talking about flop.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
I'm not gonna try to double down, but I mean,
like I feel like that's what I got to do.
At this point, I'm just not getting the calls. I
don't know why I don't flop. Maybe that's why this
isn't just a tonight thing.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
So the NBA used to have a slogan where amazing happens.
Nothing amazing happens at the free throw line. So when
it becomes again, if SGA had thirteen free throws more
than the next guy, maybe even twenty three, but if
you got four hundred and twenty five more for I mean,
look at this one right there. That's an absolutely awful
(11:51):
call against the Lakers, and it's just bad sports. It's
like when we used to watch the NFL and the
guy make a great catch and they're like, well it
kind of wiggle by his elbow.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
No catch.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
NFL is like, it's bad TV. It's bad sports. Defensive shift.
Bryce Harper hits a bolt and the second basement standing
in right field catches it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
That's bad sports.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
I want to see Bryce Harper when he rips a ball,
I want to see it it drop unless he's it,
you know. I don't want to see clean hits of
a ninety six mile hour slitty get caught by a
second basement standing in right. So I think the NBA,
and they've done they've done this before, hack a shack handcheck.
I mean, they've done this multiple times to elevate the
(12:34):
quality of the overall product and the television product.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
They've tweaked it, and I think we're getting to that point.
So J Mack, listen. I know you love Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
I know you do, and I'm not trying to pick
on him because he had a bad night, but it does.
You know, here's the reality outside of baseball, salaries matter
a lot. I mean, in baseball you can diffirm if
you want, which is crazy, but you can.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And that's the thing with Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Three and a half times the cap hit, So again,
he's going to be paid like a two and he's
closer to a three or a four. And this is
Boston felt this with Derek White this year because the
Tatum injury, there were nights, he had to be a two. Well,
Jalen Brown's like a great two or a good one.
Jalen Brown would be the best three in the league
(13:23):
by a mile. Derek White's a four on a great
team that won great Celtics team.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
He was almost a five.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
But now you you elevate him, you know, to the
number two starter in the rotation, and you're like, well,
Derek White wasn't as good this year. He's being guarded
by better players. He has to guard better players. You're
elevating to a spot he's not really as suited for. So,
I mean, a forty eight million dollar cap hit would
be bigger right now than Kate Gunningham and ant Okay.
Speaker 6 (13:52):
Let's settle down bassing Austin Reeves off one game when
he is barely removed from an oblique injury.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
That kept them out for a month ago.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
We got three years of data bro on Austin Reeves
that he's a really good player, and honestly, the blueprint
is there for Luca. He took the Maps to the
finals with Kyrie Irving as his wingman. If you can
get eighty five percent of Kyrie Irving from Austin Reeves,
I think you're going to be just fine. Now, the
question is can Reeves stay healthy. Remember, Kyrie Irving also
had many issues with injuries.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Lo frail the time.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I don't believe historically we're gonna view Austin Reeves as
eighty five percent of Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
Kyrie Irving, Kyrie Irving, but Dallas Kyrie Irv.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Well, yeah, but prime Kyrie Irving won a title. He
was spectacular.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
I'm just talking about the Dallas one who was a
wingman to Luca.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
They need you to create a little bit, Yeah, but
they that wasn't prime Kyrie and he was multiple injured Kyrie,
and they didn't win a title. The Lakers win titles.
They don't care about going to the finals. You got
to get there to win it though. I mean, Lakers
are barely getting out of the first round.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Now, you.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Is not sixty percent, really prime Kyrie. Kyrie Irving at
his prime is the great eight. Is small, ambidexterous finisher
in the history of the league.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Go back to the Celtics team.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Definitely, There's never been a finisher both hands that size
in the history of the sport of Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
But that's the thing he wasn't prime in Dallas when
they went to the finals.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
He was just good, you're really into this, went to
the finals. You got win win, wouldn't Why is Michael
Jordan considered the greatest player six for six in the finals?
Magic went to thirty percent more, but he lost a
third of them going to the finals. Didn't the Pacers
(15:37):
just get to the finals?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
What does it mean?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Does it mean anything seeing a trip to the finals.
Rick Smith's got to the finals. Nobody cares. They don't
care about your olbleaque injury. They don't care that you
got to the finals Los Angeles. When it comes to
baseball and it comes to Lakers, there are certain things
like Ohio State football, we played in a Natty.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Who cares you didn't win?
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Ohio State is one of the Duke doesn't brag about,
you know, we got to the final four.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Duke brags if they win.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I mean that's what the Lakers are their standard is
I mean Austin Reeves is a top ten jersey seller.
What team's third best player is a top ten jersey seller? Yeah,
and for the record, Kyrie was a number one one
overall pick. Yes, So let's not kill our those about
who's undress seven to eight year.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Period that Kyrie was.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I mean, honestly, after Stephan, Lebron was as good a
player and watch as the league had, the whole sport had.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Yeah, he needed Lebron to get to the playoffs and win.
He could do nothing by himself. Austin Reeves is a one,
no shot as a two. I'm buying that. Remember fifteen
and two in March Colin with Austin Reeves as the
two Lebron seeding to the three.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah again March.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
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Speaker 3 (17:02):
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Speaker 3 (17:49):
They do it every year.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
It's it's the least relatable moment in America. It's just
I look at it and I think, oh, you couldn't
pay it.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
But I'm not an artist, so little, but it made me.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Somebody asked Meryl Streep why she wasn't there, And somebody
asked Meryl Streep, who's probably the greatest actor in my life.
They asked her, are you not going? Are you protesting
Jeff Bezos? And she said, no, Mett Gayala is just
not my vibe. And I've never loved Meryl Streep more.
But she's been nominated more than any actor ever Oscar nominated.
(18:28):
And she's also has nine movies that have lower than
a fifty percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And you know,
whatever you think of that, I kind of trust it.
Not necessarily. The point is, the longer you do something,
even if you're Meryl Streep great or lebron, you're going
to get criticism and basketball players and pro athletes are artists,
(18:52):
and you're not coming out of this thing alive or unscathed.
And you know, Rich Paul, who's represent under Lebron forever,
was talking about the fact that literally, sometimes you know clients,
He'll try to get clients and they don't want to
go with him because he represents Lebron, which it sounds outrageous,
(19:13):
but here he is.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
The reason why you don't hear a lot of conversation
about Jokich is because I don't believe people are happy
to see Jokag lose. But when Lebron loses, people are
happy to see him lose. There's something about that, especially
his peers, guys that played in the league that have
(19:36):
platforms today for different reasons.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
It's extra they are happy to see him lose. Yeah,
it's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
I mean, think about Lebron comes into the NBA as
a kid, and his big missteps in twenty three years
are he broke up with the Cavaliers on TV. Although
I give a million dollars to the Boys and Girls
Club in Connecticut, that was a big one. I guess
it freaked people out. The tweet ripping Darryl Moury for
(20:07):
defending protesters in China. Again, it's Twitter that apparently got
people worked up. And then you know, the Lakers drafted Brownie.
Wasn't heavy handed by Rich Paul lebron I defended it
because it was a horrible draft. It was middle to
late second round. And Bronnie's a good kid who works
his butt off. I actually know a couple of people
that know Bronnie. He's a really good kid. He works
(20:29):
really hard. Again, I can't lose sleep over all this stuff,
but I'll say it again, if you are Meryl Streep
is the best actor of my lifetime. And she's been
nominated more than anybody. But she's been around so long
and she's still amazing. Is that she's got eight or
nine movies that haven't worked for the general consensus of
(20:50):
the public.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Like, it's just the reality of it.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Lebron's been around so long, you're gonna misstep, You're gonna
step in it. And by and large, he's I think
he's not only a remarkable basketball players and remarkable human.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter. They're not a im pacific.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Rachel Nichols covers the NBA Fox Sports. Okay, she joins
US live. So listen, you have you deal with us
all the time. You talk to people in locker rooms.
You know a lot of times. You know, you can
tell when you've been doing this. There's things that are
said that they don't want Rachel to go. I talked
to JJ Reddick, yes, And then there are things they'll
(21:28):
they'll go on the record with.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
I would imagine you hear a lot about this.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, off the record because they don't they don't want
to rip officials.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
But you hear this a lot in the league.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Well, you have two categories of guys, right, You have
guys who are a bit reliant on it with their game,
and they'll sit there and tell you it's part of
the game, and he does it, why shouldn't I do it?
And look, there are anti flopping measures that have been
instituted in the NBA in the past couple of years.
We had I think in twenty twenty three, twenty four
it was a trial rule, and then the year after
it was adopted as a real permanent rule. That's when
(21:59):
they put in official flopping penalties, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, that
officials can call. So the NBA will tell you we've
already addressed this. Your point, though, on the point of
the other portion of players I talk to is hey,
it's not working. Guys are still doing it and it's
ruining some of the flow of the game. And so
the question is the rule is already there. It's there
(22:19):
kind of almost recently, so they're not going to put
in a new rule. But what I do think might
happen in this offseason is you might see them talk
to the refs about making it a quote point of emphasis.
And that's what the NBA does when they feel like
the rule is in place but it's not being called enough,
and they say going into the season, this is a
quote point of emphasis.
Speaker 10 (22:37):
And then at the beginning of the season.
Speaker 9 (22:39):
I know a lot of fans don't realize this, and
officiating crew will go around and talk to every single
team during the preseason, have a meeting with them with
visual aids and say these will be our points of emphasis.
Speaker 10 (22:51):
Be warned.
Speaker 9 (22:51):
So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little
bit of more of that in the beginning of the
preseason next year.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
You know, I've said this with part of take baseball
out of where there's no salary cap. But a big
part of I mean great players like A J. Brown
got moved out of Tennessee. And I remember Mike Vrabel's
reaction to the press conference. It was like, I just
lost my offense, Like it happens all the time. Austin Reeves'
(23:16):
cap HiT's gonna triple plus, triple plus. And we saw
this Rachel with Derek White. Derek White, if he is
a four, you can win a championship this year. He
was often asked during the Tatum injury to be a two,
and he didn't play as well. Right, you're asking him
now to guard better players, and you're running more of
the offense through him, and then there are limitations based
(23:38):
on just physical traits. And I look at Austin Reeves.
I would love Austin at certain prices. It's Baker Mayfield
at thirty five million. He is a steel At fifty
five million, I'm gonna draft the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
These new owners, you know this.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
In Los Angeles, they moved off Corey Seeger Bellinger, Manny Machado.
They've moved off stars because the numbers don't work. Three,
I mean forty eight million dollar cap hit for Austin
Reeves is there. I mean, if he has a couple
more games like this in the series, does the brain
trust say, guys, this is punitive now?
Speaker 10 (24:14):
I don't think so.
Speaker 9 (24:15):
Look, he Austin Reeves showed them through an entire season
what he could do. The way he compliments Luca, Luca
loves having him around, and keeping Luca happy is very
important to the Lakers, not just in terms of long
term contract stuff, but Luca is an emotional player and
when he's happy, he plays better. So that is important
for all the on the court and frankly off court
reasons too. Austin Reeves had an oblique injury that should
(24:37):
have kept him out for at least six weeks, probably
eight weeks, and he came back early.
Speaker 10 (24:42):
And that is to me what we saw last night.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
He is not himself out there, and I think, if anything,
he's going to get credit from the organization for trying
to play through it, because at least if you're a
body out there, you're someone that they have to guard,
especially if you are an offensive talent like Reeves. So
I expect him to sort of work his way back
through this series. Obviously, the Thunder one of the best
defensive teams in the league, so they're going to make
it extra hard on him, and he is still hurting,
(25:06):
and the hours he spends in the training room right
now our evidence of that. So I don't think anyone's
going to count this series or that performance last night,
which was terrible. But I don't think it's going to
count against him in coach contract negotiations this summer.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
So, you know, considering Lebron has been in the public
eye for twenty three years, his missteps may have been
a tweet about China. The public breakup of the Cavs
was a little rough, you know, the brawny thing. Did
he and Rich Paul I defended that it was a
terrible draft. It was second round. Brownie's a good kid.
He plays hard. He's actually better than I thought he
(25:40):
would be in there.
Speaker 10 (25:40):
They needed him in the last round.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
By the way, Yeah, it was better than I thought.
But Rich Pa, I want you to react to this.
Here's Rich Paul talking about Lebron and what he deals with.
Speaker 8 (25:51):
The reason why you don't hear a lot of conversation
about Joki is because I don't believe people are happy
to see Jo loose. But when Lebron loses, people are
happy to see him lose. There's something about this, especially
his peers, guys that played in the league that have
(26:11):
platforms today for different reasons.
Speaker 10 (26:15):
It's extra they are happy to see him lose.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
It's sad. What do you make of that?
Speaker 10 (26:22):
Damn straight they are?
Speaker 9 (26:23):
You know why, because Lebron bullied the entire league for
about two decades. This is the case of the guy
who not only sort of capped careers. There are players
in this league, many many elite players in this league
who would have titles, who would have rings if not
for Lebron. And we said that about Michael Jordan the
years he played, right, think about the players that we
(26:43):
can point to, they definitely would have had a ring
if not for Michael Jordan. Well, Lebron has been bullying
guys for a lot longer than Michael Jordan ever did.
Speaker 10 (26:52):
Think about it.
Speaker 9 (26:52):
You talked about players with platforms. Paul George, Right, he's
still in the league, but he has a podcast. His
career would have gone completely different in the East when
he was in Indiana if not for Lebron James, there
were entire franchises who built up and then got destroyed
by Lebron and then had to build down again. The
Toronto Raptors, obviously, the Indiana Piecers. The Boston Celtics dynasty,
(27:13):
if it was one, was broken up by Lebron James,
So of course they're happy when he has a misstep
or when things go poorly for him.
Speaker 10 (27:20):
They were on the other end of those fisticuffs for
so long.
Speaker 9 (27:24):
I think it's really just a testament to Lebron's greatness
more than it says anything about anyone else.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
In Wemby hasn't been around long enough to be a villain.
But I could see people in the league being like,
you know, you media people are giving him flowers that
his offensive game isn't even refined yet. I wonder if
you pulled there was a poll that came out in
(27:48):
the Athletic to day overright underrated. You guys should get
it to me. How do you if you have If
you polled NBA players and you said t Wolves or Spurs.
My gut is the players would root for Ant. They
like Ant, and I think they like kind of the toughness.
You know that Julius Randall, the Naws read. I find
Minnesota easy to root for. They're just veterans. You're not overlooked,
(28:13):
but you know, not always aesthetically beautiful players. Outside of Ant,
who do you think players are rooting for around the
league in that series?
Speaker 9 (28:21):
I think guys like both of these teams, you know,
I think there's a lot of respect around the league
for you know, what the Wolves are, the way they
are able to ratchet it up in the playoffs after
having these you know, characteristically now uneven seasons.
Speaker 10 (28:33):
Chris Finch is very respected around the league.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
ANT you know, has a lot of guys attention by
the way he plays both sides of the floor and
the way that he frankly just has that you know
it factor, the charisma. But I actually think that other
players like Wemby and have a ton of respect for
him and don't think he's overrated. You have guys all
season who have made the point that he is just
completely on another level from them, you know, throughout throughout
(28:56):
the year and what they project for him for the
rest of his career. I mean, Jalen Brown at one
point during the season said I think right now I'm
the best two way player in the league, and then
at the end of that sentence, he paused, and he goes,
of course, you know, non Wemby division.
Speaker 10 (29:09):
I mean literally, that is what he said. Guys call
him an alien.
Speaker 9 (29:12):
That nickname has really stuck with the other players around
the league. I don't think they think he's overrated at
this point at all. I do think what we saw
with him last night was that players think they have
a little bit of a window of opportunity right now
when he still is new and fresh and hasn't figured
everything out, and the book on him all season because
he's played so well, has been that the only way
(29:33):
to stop him offensively is to really get up under him,
and that is what we saw the Timberwolves do last night.
Speaker 10 (29:39):
They jammed him.
Speaker 9 (29:40):
They jammed him in the chest, in the hip, and
they take away some of the power of that first step,
which is just so lethal with Wemby. And it also
means that he just gets discombompulated and he's not used
to dealing with that yet. I'm interested, Colin in what
you think about how he's going to adjust for the
rest of the series, because I kept saying over you know,
during our predictions phase of these playoffs, I think the
(30:00):
Spurs youth will show at times during these playoffs. But
Wenby is such a student of the game. I expect
him to come back in the next game knowing better
how to deal with it, or do you think that
he just doesn't.
Speaker 10 (30:10):
Have it yet.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I think it's a bad matchup a little bit for
San Antonio because if you take out the COVID year
where older players missed their wives and families and they
were like, I mean, like Lebron talked about that, like
I had to get the guys together and say, guys,
this is brutal. We're playing, you know, the theme park,
but it was rough on older players. So younger players
(30:32):
for the only time in my life, kind of took
the playoffs over Yah, right, single guys, no kid, they
were just having fun. The playoffs are mostly about old
guys that can manipulate the refs, guys that can make
adjustments in the fourth quarter. I said at the other night,
when these games go into the fourth. The minute that
Game one went to the fourth, I'm like, oh, no,
Minnesota had a four point lead, five point lead, it
(30:53):
was their game. Yeah, And I think it's a I
think it's a tough matchup. I I think if you
took every NBA roster, and you just said we're going
to do strength tests and physical tests.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Minnesota would win.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
I think they have the Randall Nas McDaniel go bear.
I think experience, wisdom, length, toughness. I think Wenby's going
to have. I mean, listen, he struggled in Game one
at home. I think there's a little bit of a
book on him. I think you said it. I think
(31:30):
Randall Nas. I think those guys are bad matchups. I
don't think it's going to be a great serious form
And you know the arther thing, Rachel. He's not a
creative or an initiator. He's a disruptor on the defensive
end and he's a finisher on the offensive end. But
he does need people to engineer or initiate the He's
not Jokics that way. He's more Kareem. You know, he's
(31:52):
the finisher and the disruptor. When you put Magic with Kareem,
that's a dynasty. So I means this is a seven
game series.
Speaker 9 (32:02):
Yeah, for sure. Absolutely we thought we would see that
in these two. But I'm sure you guys have seen
the Embid news. We'll see what happens there. I'm very
curious to see how the Sixers operate tonight with Joel
Embiid ruled out because are we going to see Tyrese
Maxi take over that game or are they just gonna
have to let Cat run wild and then they're not
gonna have an answer for him and we're going to
(32:23):
see another dominant performance from the Knicks. I just don't
know how competitive this east side of the bracket is
going to be.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Totally agree, Rachel Nichols, covering the NBA since nineteen ninety three.
Good senior, righte, Thanks you bet. Yeah, that's a bummer
on Joel Embiid. Although they were seven and a half
point favorite with Embid, now they're ten and a half.
So you know, it's interesting. Embid dominates. The Boston series
has given Kat huge problems and the number only moves
(32:50):
two and a half three points.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I mean, you know, and it.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Goes to show in short spurts, in very very short spurts,
you can lose your start. The first two games of
the Houston series without Luca Ayton and Ruie and Luke
Kenard were great. Then you get a lot of game film,
then you can go back and prepare them. By game three,
(33:15):
Houston should have won that game by game three, your
feeling is, yeah, they miss Luca. So you're generally speaking
for a game or too. Like in football, sometimes you
can for a half can you can overcome on scheme,
but eventually, if you have Christian McCaffrey in the lineup
or Trent Williams the Niners. Later in games, you don't
want to back up quarterback. If Brock pretty stowing thirty
(33:35):
eight times, you don't want to back up left tackle.
You can overcome it early, take a lead schemes, try
to run, but if you fall behind, you're in big trouble.
I think tonight Philadelphia will play hair on fire. I
think they'll be super aggressive. I think it'll be competitive.
But you know, if you go back to the regular season,
the games in the regular season that we all watched
(33:58):
were Okay Ces San Antonio Oka See. San Antonio had
their number, but if they played again, we'd probably take
Oka See. And the games we talked about in the
East this year were the Detroit Nick games, which Detroit controlled.
(34:19):
Detroit controlled in the regular season, I would probably take
the Knicks, and that shows you the divide between the
regular season.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
And the postseason.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
I would take okay See over San Antonio, though the
Spurs dominated the regular season, I would take the Knicks
over the Pistons, although Detroit pushed them around in the
regular season. It's a different sport.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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