HOUR 1 - Tom Brady, NBA playoffs, NFL

Joy Taylor in for Colin

 

Tom Brady will be the lead analyst for Fox Sports when he retires

Thoughts on the NBA playoff games last night

Is it a good idea for the NFL to have another team in Dallas?

Guest: Ric Bucher

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern,
nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one.
Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports
Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching heard you're listening to Fox
Sports Radio. Welcome to the Herd, Joy Taylor and for

(00:26):
Colin Cowherd. All week, he is enjoying his vacation alongside
Alex Curry. We have a huge show for you today
and caught a little bit of news this morning. What
a morning. Yeah, just wait, just wake up with the goat,
do some casual news joining the fam. Thank you so
much for joining us today and hanging out with us
all week. We have a very exciting show today. Lots

(00:48):
of NBA talk, a little, a little NFL to sneak
in here. But yeah, I gotta say I've spent a
lot of time in my career talking about Tom Brady,
discussing various aspects of his career, his successes, and it
is pretty surreal now to be talking about him as

(01:11):
a co worker, which is which is very exciting. So
if you haven't heard the news Tom Brady is joining
Fox Sports as our lead NFL analyst when he retires.
Very important to mention when he retires, because although this
is very big news for today, this is not an
announcement that he is coming right now. Here is our

(01:32):
announcement from Fox Sports NFL. We are pleased to announce
that immediately following his playing career, seven times Super Bowl champion,
Tom Brady, we'll be joining us at Fox Sports as
our lead analyst. And he responded to the news on
Twitter saying excited, but a lot of unfinished business on

(01:53):
the field with the Buccaneers hashtag LFG. Everyone knows what
that means. I'd like to keep my job here at Fox,
so I'm not going to read that when you'll figure
it out. It's very exciting, though, and you know him
him coming here is you know, as Shannah just mentioned,
if you were listening before the break, it's like Michael
Jordan walking off the court and immediately joining as an analyst.

(02:16):
I mean, this is the greatest player of all time
joining the Fox Sports family as the lead analyst. It
doesn't get bigger, It does not get It does not
get bigger. It does not get bigger than Tom Brady
joining a broadcast team. No, And there's levels to this obviously,
like him joining is is very important and it's it's
impactful and it's exciting. But this is also an answer

(02:40):
to something that we have all discussed when it comes
to Tom Brady for a very long time. What is
Tom Brady going to do when he retires? Now, he
did have a bit of a retirement announcement obviously not
too long ago, a few months ago, and it was
very short lived and we weren't really sure what direction
he was going in. But we've always discussed what's going

(03:01):
to be the next chapter for Tom Brady because Tom
Brady is a very unique athletes and superstar in many
different ways. But aside from his greatness, his obvious you know,
goat status and Hall of Fame status and legend status,
he also is a uniquely obsessive superstar. He is in

(03:23):
that class of Michael Jordan and Kobe and the guys
that we know absolutely obsess over the game. He is
extremely competitive, insanely competitive. He is a guy that has
held onto that chip on his shoulder from being a
sixth round pick for his entire career. So we now
have an answer for what the next chapter will be.

(03:45):
And I gotta be honest, I didn't know that. I
expected him to go into broadcasting. I think a lot
of us expected him to, you know, really dive into
the business side of things, but he's sort of been
chipping away at the media side of things for quite
a while. He has obviously completely leaned into social media
since he's joined the Pampa Bay Buccaneers. He had a pretty,

(04:06):
i don't want to say laid back, but reserved persona
when he was with the Patriots because that's what was
asked of him for twenty years with the Death Star.
That was their their motto, do your job, and he was.
He was the model citizen for that Patriots persona. Since
he's been with the Buccaneers, he's been all over social media.
He's been all over Instagram. He's completely leaned into being

(04:29):
a much more public personality. We have so much more
access to him. And that kind of started at the
ends of his time with the Patriots, but now it
is it has completely exploded. He obviously had the Tom
Versus Time documentary. He's been doing a whole lot more interviews.
You've seen him more at celebrity events. He had the
Man in the arena as the Let's Go podcast. It
was a part of the match. He's doing a movie

(04:50):
right now, eighty for Brady obviously as a production company.
So this this is sort of the way he's been
trending lately with his at least his public persona for
quite some time. So this is a perfect transition for him.
I never thought he was going to sail off into
the sunset and pick up crocheting. He was obviously going
to do something that was huge and impactful, because that

(05:13):
is the type of person that he has shown us
to be. But even if he were to dive into
the businesses that he's already started, that doesn't necessarily provide
the routine that we know Tom is obsessed with. There's
a clip that we play all the time from Tom
Brady on his Tom Versus Time documentary, and I think
this is a great hint to how he's going to

(05:34):
be as a broadcaster. I watched Take all day Monday,
all day Tuesday, and then Saturday before the game I
watched Film, and then Sunday morning I watched Film. I
don't know why I can sit here and watch it
and you know process information quickly, but I can. Running
and lifting has been much harder to develop than this.
This has kind of been in me and I could

(05:55):
literally like just watch film all day. Well, you'll have
any fail to watch as the lead analyst, and you
don't have to do any of the running or lifting
in order to do that job. So this is the
perfect place for him. We're very excited to have Tom Brady.
It's hard for players to just walk away from the game,
and I imagine it would be very difficult for Tom

(06:15):
Brady to not only walk away from the game, not
have any closeness or proximity to the game, but also
not have any type of routine. He is obviously obsessed
with the game of football. Family and football is what
Brady is, and being an analyst requires that you be
very close to the game. You do a lot of
what we just showed, which is watching a lot of tape,

(06:35):
and you know it provides It provides a lot of
responsibility and a routine which I know me personally, not
that I'm comparing myself to Tom Brady, all right, before
everyone starts freaking out, I do like having a routine.
Colin and I talk about this a lot. We're routine people.
I like knowing I have this to do tomorrow, I
have this schedule, I'm gonna park in this parking spot,
I'm gonna have this for breakfast. And I like the
routine of things. I like building towards something over a

(06:57):
period of time. And that's exactly what this role is
going to provide him. And it's just really special that
we're going to be able to get the perspective of
the greatest player of all time while we watch the
biggest games in football every week. So congratulations, very excited
to have you here at Fox Sports. And I think

(07:18):
this is this is so much more than just an
announcement for the company. We have now an answer about
what Tom Brady is going to do upon retiring, which
again not yet unfinished business according to Brady. So it
could be this year, it could be next year. He
will let us know when he's going to retire, but
now we know where he will be and that is
here with us at Fox Sports. So very excited to

(07:40):
hear that. And that's big news this morning. Now switching
to the NBA Playoffs. Two games last night, two very
good games. The late game was a little clunkier than
the first but but illuminating nonetheless. And as I'm watching
the NBA playoffs progress, and I really got this feeling
going into the playoffs in the first round. Now you're
really seeing it developed in the second round of the playoffs.

(08:03):
I think we're seeing some significant trends with the NBA,
and I think it's really healthy for the league. One,
we're seeing really well developed, well run, well coached teams
that are deep, go far in the playoffs and be
there consistently. I think that's great for fans. I think

(08:23):
it's great for the league as far as the development
of young players and of establishing new stars goes. And
we're seeing some real rivalries develop because these teams are
consistently there, they see each other a lot. We're able
to see the storylines and the players develop and really thrive.
And the animality level that we've seen throughout this playoffs

(08:44):
is adding to those rivalries. So those are two big
complaints about the NBA, right, Like, it's all it's all
star driven. Everyone's changing teams, there's no consistency. You can't
be a fan of anyone. You gotta change jerseys all
the time, all the players, all the stars make all
the decisions. Well, you're not seeing that with the teams
that are in the playoffs now. In fact, Philadelphia is

(09:05):
the only team in the playoffs right now that's made
a drastic move for Superstar as of recent and James Harden,
and that wasn't even something they really wanted to do Originally.
They wanted to run it with Ben Simmons and it
wasn't working out, So I would argue their hand was
forced in that space. They've been the one that's trust
the process, that's wanted to develop year after year after year.

(09:27):
So what we're seeing with all these teams, if you
look at the teams that are remaining, is that there's
a lot of parody. There's a lot of balance, and
it is really benefiting teams that are consistent, that are loyal,
that are patients, that developed players that of course are
aggressive in moves when they need to be. They're not complacent,

(09:48):
but they're also not panicking. And I think that's really
important for the NBA right now. There's been so many
critics of the NBA poking at these specific things. There's
no rivalries at a mar Villains, Well, you're getting rivalries
and you're getting animosity, and you're getting you know, some
borderline dirty play in these playoffs right now. You can't
argue that, Oh, it's all about the stars. Everybody superstars

(10:10):
changing teams. They are you pairing up together. You're not
seeing that this year either, and you didn't really see
it last year. These teams are developing, they're well coached,
they're well run. Even when they make moves like Brad
Stevens moving into the front office, they're not drastic, they're
not explosive. Everyone is consistently working towards the goal. And

(10:31):
if it doesn't work out, it's not an explosion, it's
not panic, it's not drama. And you're getting the rewards
in that from the fans. The ratings are up twenty
three percent this year. That is significant. So everything is
pointing to the league is in a really healthy place.
We're always talking about who's the face of the league

(10:51):
and what's going to happen when Lebron retires, and listen,
you need superstars. I am a superstar person. You need storylines,
you need narratives, you need villains, you need all that.
I agree, but I think what you're seeing in the
NBA playoffs is not only great basketball. You're seeing well developed,
well coached teams, players having the opportunity to rise up

(11:12):
and have big moments on the biggest stage, and a
lot of success is being rewarded to teams that have
been patient, and I think that's great for the league overall,
and I think we're going to continue to see this
trend moving forward. Of course, there's always going to be
a team that pops up, it puts together a bunch
of stars. But the team that we thought was that
team this year was Brooklyn and there are nowhere to

(11:34):
be found and got swept in the first round. So
the trend for the NBA, very much like the NFL
in some ways, is that you continuously tinker, you continuously
make adjustments, You continue to grow, panicking firing coaches every
two years, making these big swings with no guarantee of
any kind of ROI is moving out the window, which

(11:55):
I think is really flying in the face of everything
that we as a societr with instant gratification, you have
to be patient. You've got to build, you've got to
allow young players to develop, You've got to add veterans
that fit into systems that are willing to be selfless
and sacrifice and have the big star that works with
what you do. And that's what you're seeing in these

(12:16):
NBA playoffs and I think it's great, so really exciting
show for you today. We'll talk to Rick Bucker about
the NBA Playoffs coming up in a little bit. Mary
Kay Cabot Cleveland's is of course in the storylines again
with their quarterback situations, so we'll get more from her.
Amy Dash, there was an NIL notice that was released yesterday.
She's a legal analyst. She'll break down what's going on

(12:38):
with the NIL and a little bit more on the
Deshaun Watson situation as well. And I mean as Smith
and se Sports Boston reporter and hosts. The Celtlics had
a big win last night. We'll talk to her about
that and a lot more coming up on The Herd.
Joey Taylor and Alex Curley Curry in for Colin Cowhard.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and nun Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio

(12:58):
FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Welcome back to The Herd.
Joey Taylor in for Colin Cowherd all week He is
on vacation. We'll be back on Monday. So Alex and
I are holding it down while he is in Italy. Um.
I wonder if how much wine he's enjoying in Italy.
He's not a big wine guy. I hope all the
wine I know, but wine in Italy wine gives him

(13:19):
snake dreams. Wait, that's fascinating. I love that so much.
So maybe he's having Um, what's the what's the drink?
Lemon Cello? Lemon Cello's delicious. Yeah. I had a lot
of Lemonello April sprits. That's it. Everybody can't make those though.
He gotta get the right com Yeah, let me get
a little too sweet fave. Well, Tom Brady is uh

(13:41):
is our co worker, So that's exciting. Huge. Um, that
was huge news this morning. Tom Brady will be joining
the Fox Sports family as our lead NFL analyst upon retirement.
He's not announcing his retirement right now. This is what
he's going to do upon retirements. Um. So I was
the big news this morning. But the NBA playoffs are
in full swing and we talked a little bit about

(14:02):
some of the dirty plays. Depending on how you feel
about these plays, I felt like they were dirty plays,
but that doesn't make them dirty players. You can have
a dirty play and not be a dirty player. You
can do something wrong and not be a bad person.
Your reputation and what you do consistently I think matters.
But there were some incidents in the Warriors Grizzlies series,
obviously the Dylan Brooks foul on Gary Payton Junior and

(14:24):
most recently the Jordan Pool knee grab on John Morant,
which inevitably led to him being out last night and
the Grizzlies losing to the Warriors and going down three one.
So it wasn't obviously extremely significant. I don't want to
get into the conversation with you about whether or not
he hurt John Morant. It doesn't matter. You're not God.
You don't know. If John Morand says that's what hurt him,

(14:45):
that's what hurt him. I don't want to I'm not
having that conversation with you. So if you're upset about that,
I don't know. I'll talk to someone else about him.
But we did talk a lot about that animosity yesterday
and what it all really means. Again, as I started
the show, there's this constant conversation about how soft the
NBA is now. There's no rivalries there, there's no edge.

(15:05):
You know, in the eighties everyone was competing. Now everyone's friends. Well,
now I think you're kind of starting to see you're
starting to see the modern version of this, the modern
player's version of what the animosity and rivalries are going
to look like. It's not going to be the bad
boy Pistons, who were obviously what they were and did

(15:27):
not apologize for it, and they were unique for that
and immortalized for that, and that is them. And there
were obviously some branches throughout those eras of basketball in
the eighties and nineties where people completely leaned into that
and it worked for them, and sometimes it didn't work,
and that was that era. We're not in that era now.
So there has to be some sort of modern evolution

(15:49):
of playing tough, having rivalries, having animosity, having tension without
it crossing the line that today's NBA is not going
to allow you to cross through fines, spensions and whatever else.
But also the relationships that these guys have, which I
have no problem with. I think you can leave things
on the court and it'd be okay. We don't need

(16:11):
to have everything be of fights and war and all
of that. But Dylan Brooks obviously had the foul on
Gary Payton Junior, and we've been talking a lot about that,
and he spoke about it. He said, I was just
trying to make a play on the ball and he
was running full speed. I jumped and he adjusted. It's
in the past. I didn't mean for it to hurt somebody.
If I were to take it back in a moment,

(16:32):
I would, but it's the past. He said this after
Grizzlies shoot around before Game four yesterday. If I could
take it back, I would. That's some modern version version,
player's version of this tension and animosity. I'm gonna make
the play, but then I'm gonna apologize for it. So
I'm gonna play stuff, but if it hurt someone, I'm

(16:53):
gonna apologize, which I'm okay with. I'm okay with apologizing.
This whole idea that you could just do something wrong
and stamp by it forever apologize it doesn't It doesn't
hurt you as a man, or as a woman, or
as a person to apologize for something. You can play
tough and apologize. You can play tough and be empathetic.
And we also saw last night Jordan Pool walk up

(17:14):
to John Morant. Now job was a little, you know,
begrudging in his response to Jordan Pool. It's not like
they stopped and hugged it out. But this is something
shook hands. Okay, like it happens we at a moment.
Obviously it hurt John Morant. But this is where we are.
Be tough, but be empathetic. I'm okay with this modern
version of rivalries, and that's that's where we are. I

(17:36):
think we need it. I do think we do need
tough play. I think you need a little tension, you
need villains. I very much believe in that. But it's
also if you hurt someone, just go ahead and apologize.
Don't think less of you. Actually I think more of you.
Let's get to Alex Curry with the news. No, no,
turn on the news. This is the herd Line news. Well,
the NBA announced the Son's coach Monty Williams as the

(17:59):
twenty twenty two Coach of the Year yesterday. Williams led
the Suns to a franchise league best sixty four and
eighteen records, securing the top overall seat in the playoffs.
But Williams didn't want to take all the credit. Take
a listen. If there's one award that exemplifies team, it's
the Coach of the Year award because there's so many

(18:19):
people that help us have a consistent day and they
create a bubble for us to have success. So yeah,
my name will go on the plaque or whatever, but
my name represents a lot of names. I love this
and I love Monty so much. Anytime I hear him
miked up during the game, I just think to myself,
I wish he was my life coach. Everything he says,

(18:42):
you can hear his passion in his respect for the
game and for the players, and you can see the
respect that the players have for him. And he's taken
this young group, obviously with the help of Chris Paul,
and he's turned them into rock stars. He's done an
incredible job. Well. Monty, I think is perfect, perfect coach

(19:03):
for this organization. The Sons were a disaster for a
long time and we know all about the issues with
the owner, the structure there, how people were treated. It
was insane. Monny is that captain of the ship. He's
not going to tolerate any kind of shenanigans. No, you're
not You're not getting out of line in this situation

(19:24):
in a respectful way. But he is somebody that speaks
and you respect good he has to say both as
a person and when it comes to basketball, and I
think the Sons have really shown that if the owner
has now removed his influence on the situation and allowed
James Jones and Monti Williams to run the team, and

(19:46):
they've shown you let us be let us do this
basketball thing, and we can do this properly and with
respect and treating people well. And you know it sounds
all you know, kumbaya, and I like, this is what
you have to do. What do you want to establish
a culture with an organization that has been dysfunctional for
a long time. It's not just getting things right on
the court. You have to establish something a standard for

(20:08):
how things are done. And Monny has done an unbelievable
job and you need the respect and you can see that,
you can feel it, and then rue are all seeing
the results. Yes, this is what happens. And you have
to earn respects which Monty has and oh yeah, your
reputation proceed you when to come into a place very
well deserves congratulations, all right. Moving on, almost all of

(20:29):
this year's big name quarterback dominos have fallen, except for
Jimmy ge and reports indicate that the forty nine Ers
don't expect to deal with QB until just before training camp,
aiming to shop Garoppolo again after he completes his rehab
sometime this summer. Nick Waggoner ESPN reports after losing to
the Rams in the NFC Championship, the expectation was at

(20:49):
the first big piece of business, trading Garoppolo would happened quickly.
That was before it was no. Garoppolo needed right shoulder surgery,
a procedure that wiped out his trade value. Garoppolo's shoulder
slated to get the all clear in late June or
early July, at which point the Niners will again seek
a trade. Now he is under contract next year. He's

(21:11):
owed twenty five million in twenty twenty two. Yes that
much when you consider what quarterbacks are making right now,
and when you look at Jimmy's I guess career and
what he's been able to do with the forty nine Ers.
He took him to a Super Bowl, He's done well
in the playoffs. He's a good piece to pick up
if you need him, But who needs him? That's the

(21:33):
big que So and I understand the surgery thing wiped
out the trade value, but we know what Jimmy G
is at this point. We know that he is injury prone.
What our teams waiting for to see how he is
off surgery, Well, you're not going to see that on
this timeline. I am just very suspicious of what's going

(21:53):
on with the forty nine ers. I don't say Kyle
Shannion is always playing all these little shell games with everything.
I don't believe it. I don't We're constantly hearing these
little things about Trey Lance that he's not one hundred
percent there yet. So I think they're heading on to
Jimmy G because they don't know if Trey Lance can
play yet. On top of the fact that there is

(22:13):
not a big market for Jimmy G or Baker Mayfield
because as you said, the dominoes have fallen, the draft
is over. People have made their trades and made their moves. Now,
if I'm in desperate need of a quarterback, yeah, I'm
going with Jimmy over Baker for multiple reasons. But they
got him for a second round pick. Now, he's way
exceeded what they what they got for him, and I

(22:35):
don't doubt. I mean, when I think people are untradeable,
these moves get made all the time, and I'm like, Okay,
you know these gems, gems know what they're doing, some
of them. So I'm not going to say that they're
not going to get more for him, especially in a
quarterback market where everyone can become desperate very quickly if
there are multiple injuries and you know, things fall apart.
You never know what's going to happen once you get
the training camp. But awesome, I don't know. I'm also

(22:58):
I wouldn't be surprised if they held on to him,
just because of all the stuff we've been hearing about
Trey Lance. Yes, they need to give him a shot.
Yes they need to just push him out there and
see what they have and what he can do. But
we've also heard rumors that the coaching staff is underwhelmed
right with this throwing and like there are things that
are leaking that are kind of a big deal and

(23:18):
a big look into why they kept Jimmy all of
last year. Oh yeah, because we keeping them him. Now
we keep hearing them talk about you know, he's such
a good player. You can't let go of such a
good player. It's not he's not a cornerback. This is
a quarterback. Yeah, this is this is a one man job,
the number one job, and it's it's for one person.
So and Jimmy is saying them to a Super Bowl

(23:40):
for I know forty nine ers fans are all in
on Trey Lance and wanting to see him, and I
am too. I think that they should get need to
give him to Trey Lance. If you want a cautionary tale,
look at what the Dolphins did with TWA. They have
still have no idea what too is because they keep
playing these little games with giving him the starting job,
which is why I'm glad it's his job. Finally, finally,
now he is uninhibited as the starter. As a starter

(24:01):
in Miami, don't play those games with Trey Lance. And
they gave up a lot to get Trey Lance. So
eventually you have to let him play. You have to
let him rise or fall. There's nothing wrong with failing,
but you can't not try. Yeah, and that's what the
Dolphins were doing for a while. And it's I don't know,
because we have to wait and see. But I'm a
little suspicious. So that's what they're sort of leaning towards

(24:22):
in San Francisco. I guess we'll see. I don't know
about the trade market, Like, yeah, what difference does it makes?
He's always injured. It's not a big reveal. Yeah, you know, yeah,
downside it's one. It's one big downside his injuries. Yeah,
bestiacause he's not available. That's that's a huge deal, especially
at the quarterback position. All right, Well that's switch gears

(24:44):
because the rating al MVP. Shoheyotani added another stat to
his growing resume last night, recording his first ever Grand
Slam in either his Major League baseball or his career
in Japan. It was one of two home runs on
the night for Otani in an eleven to three blowout
by to the Tampa Bay Rays by the Angels. Now,

(25:05):
I had a front row seat to shohe Otani's career
into Major League baseball, and he was working the year
when he entered the league in twenty eighteen. People are
finally finally making a big deal about this guy and
talking about him as much as he should. He is
changing the game of baseball. He is an incredible two
way player who not only is an ace pitcher who

(25:28):
throws one hundred miles per hour and then like last night,
hits two home runs, power hitter, grand slam. Oh and
he's on the mountain again tomorrow. So huge congratulations. Big
shout out to my angel's family who was first in
the AO West. Right now, congrats to Otani, miss you
guys much love. Now, he's such an incredible player. I
love his commercial. Also, Oh, he's great, Like he's he's

(25:50):
slowly moving into superstar status and it's fun to watch.
And that's what that's what MLB needs, these young superstars.
They allowed to be personalities. So I love that he's thriving.
That's Alex Curry with the news. Well that's the news,
and thanks for stopping by the Herdline News. So we'll
talk to Rick Bucker about the NBA playoffs and I'm

(26:13):
gonna float some of my theories with him in a
few minutes. But we got the story about a possible
another team in Dallas, the idea of adding another team
to the Dallas area. And I mean, first of all,
let's just start with absolutely not that is That's where

(26:35):
my opinion is on that so the Dallas mayor said
he wants to add another NFL franchise in the city. Now, look,
the NFL is king of everything. We just got Tom
Brady here at Fox like it's the king of everything,
and we know that, and we love the NFL. But
what's perfect about the NFL, especially for today's society where
we are all distracted, is every single game matters at

(26:58):
the highest level. So the idea of expanding the NFL,
we would not be as simple as adding one more team.
You'd likely have to add multiple teams, and then that
changes the entire landscape of the league. You could argue
we could have less teams in the NFL, but adding
another team to particularly the city of Dallas, is really

(27:19):
a different conversation if you're talking about adding another team.
I mean, obviously New York has two teams. We have
two teams here in LA. That was a big conversation,
even bringing another team to the Los Angeles area. But
Jerry Jones I do not believe would be interested in
this at all. Now. The pushback on that is, if
they did add another team to Dallas, the Dallas area,

(27:39):
Jerry would make a lot of money because they would
play it in Jerry's world. That would be a certainty.
You're going to build another stadium, so they would play
at Jerry's world, and he would make a lot of
money from that. But it would also distract and take
away from the Dallas Cowboys, which is obviously Jerry's heart
and soul outside of his family. Of course, this is
not necessary. They do not need another team in Dallas.

(28:01):
If you are realistically talking about adding another team to
the NFL, it would be international, which we've already had
these conversations about, which is why the NFL plays in London,
why they're playing in Germany this year, why they're playing
in Mexico City. If you were going to add another team,
add one in Mexico City. That's a realistic flight for everyone.

(28:22):
I mean, if you go, you gotta fly from La
to Miami. I just did that. It's a really long flight.
It's five hours. It's a lot on your body. What's
the difference from flying to Mexico City Toronto, huge huge
sports fan base in Toronto or London. You gotta you know,
mess with to schedule a little bit for the West
Coast teams. But if you're gonna add another team, do

(28:42):
it internationally, expands the brand of the NFL and set
roots internationally. There's there's no point in adding another team
to Dallas. First of all, I don't think that Jerry
would ever go for this. I think he would fight
it to the end of time to add another team
to Dallas. But what would they be. They'd be like
no offense, but they'd be the Slippers, Like it's the
Dallas Cowboys, it's America's team. And the argument is like

(29:06):
are there enough humans? Are enough human beings to sustain
another franchise in this city, Like that was the conversation
with having two teams in Los Angeles. Obviously New York
has done it successfully, But you've got to have butts
in the seats. It's a television television products obviously, but
you also have to have people there. You have to
have a fan base, You have to sell season tickets

(29:27):
in order to sustain this, you have to sell merch.
Like there is a whole other side of this, not
the majority side. The majority side is the television product.
But this is this is not a thing that I
think Jerry Is would ever even entertain. I don't think
it's possible logistically for the NFL to add another team
to Dallas, and I don't think that Dallas would be
the place where they would do it. Yeah, especially like
we're here, We're in LA. We almost have two of

(29:49):
every team here fans. The mayor was saying, like, maybe
you know, different leagues, they'd be fans of both teams.
It doesn't happen that way. You are either a Laker fan,
you're a Clipper fan fan boat teams. You are a
a Dodger fan or an Angel fan, and you don't
have Rams and Chargers fans together. Boat, and it's not
gonna happen. Oh, it's not gonna happen. Could you imagine

(30:12):
the person with the split jersey with the Lakers not
in the same city about it. It just doesn't make sense. No,
And there's always one that's King and one's like the
little brother. It's just, yeah, that's just how it happens.
How it is, That's how it happens through through winning
mostly like that's what the Lakers and Clippers. The Lakers
have the banners, the Clippers do not. Yeah, but Lakers,

(30:35):
like the Giants, have had the success more recently, the
Jets have not. Yeah, you can go down the list
and in these multiple team cities. But like that's it's
just that's not even a question. There's not gonna be
a split Cowboys and whatever they would name the other
team in Dallas that that's this is not happening. This
is not happening. But it's an interesting thought. But there's

(30:57):
not gonna be split fans. And I don't think that
Jerry Jones would ever or ever want any kind of
competition for football in his town, which is Dallas. Let's
we'll talk to Rick Bucker on the other side to
get his thoughts on the NBA playoffs and my theory
that the NBA is in the healthiest place that it's
been in for a long time. That's coming up on
The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The

(31:17):
Herd weekdayson noon Easter nine am Pacific. Hey, this is
Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast,
Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports
pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat. Every day.
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at

(31:39):
the sports book and all the best guests. Do yourself
a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get
your podcasts. Welcome back to the Herd, Joey Taylor and
for Colin Cowherd all week as he is enjoying the
countryside of Italy. Let's go out to Rick Buker, Fox

(32:02):
Sports NBA analysts and now also a co worker of
Tom Brady's, because we will we will welcome Tom Brady
to the Fox Sports Family Palm retirement. But let's start
with the NBA playoffs. So I've spoke about it earlier
on the show. Today, I think that the NBA is
in the healthiest place it's been in a long time.
If you look at the teams that are remaining in

(32:24):
the playoffs, the competition level that we're getting in the playoffs,
outside of the Grizzlies losing last nights, we would have
had long series, obviously John not being in it, which
we'll get to. And the teams that are in the
playoffs are all well coached for the most part, very
well run, and have developed players. And you're seeing this
in the ratings the ratings up twenty three percent. I

(32:45):
think you're getting great basketball, and you're seeing patients, well
run organizations being rewarded with success, and I think that's
great for the league. I agree. Now they can just
get the officiating right. We can't have everything, obviously, we can't.
You know what's unique about this situation, though, joy is

(33:06):
to generally the NBA enjoys its greatest popularity when it
has a team that everybody's gunning for, when it has
that super team, and it has it in the major markets.
And what we're seeing is while the major markets are well,

(33:26):
let's say bigger markets are engaged, we don't have LA,
we don't have New York, and yet the numbers are
going up. And I don't know whether this is a
reflection of some sort of shift or whether it's the
impact of social media, but the fact that you would
have a job Morant in Memphis, a relatively new star

(33:47):
leading the social media engagement and the replays of videos.
I think we're seeing maybe a sea change when it
comes to sports, but certainly the NBA and how it
gains traction and popularity, because what we have right now,
where we don't have really a favorite to win it all,

(34:09):
and yet everybody is engaged and excited. That works for
the NFL when there's parody. It generally has not worked
for the NBA, and yet we are seeing a rise
in popularity when we don't have that. So I don't
know whether this is just an outlier or whether it's

(34:30):
something new, but I've just as a sports fan, I
would rather see the NBA par at the NFL and
make it about parody. Make the Memphis Grizzlies being great,
John Morant being able to stay in Memphis and have
all of the success and attention and celebrity that comes
with being a great player in the NBA. I'd love

(34:51):
to see that model work. It just hasn't in the past. Yeah,
it's interesting because the NBA tends to trend younger with
the ends than the NFL, and maybe that has something
to do with it, because there's the younger fans didn't
grow up watching the bad Boy Pistons, they didn't even
really see you know, Kobe's Lakers. They really are you know,

(35:14):
the Lebron generation of fans that are now getting older,
they're you know, they're in the purchasing age is mostly
Lebron fans like they certainly did not see all of that,
forget Jordan. So there's a little bit of a different
energy when it comes to what these younger fans are
consuming and what they like. I do think rivalries are
still important, but it's like I said earlier, like it's

(35:35):
kind of like soft rivalries, like, yeah, we're gonna play tough,
someone might step over the line, but then we're gonna
apologize for it. And that's just not something that you
would see or here in you know, the eighties or nineties. Yeah. Well,
and the other problem is that when we talk about
rivalries or we talk about you know, back and forth,
guys have to stay in one place for that to happen.

(35:56):
The rivalries have to happen between teams, not players. And
so are we going to see a sea change in that?
Normally at this point job blowing up, people would be asking, Okay,
so where's he gonna go next, when's he gonna go
to La When's he gonna go to the Knicks? And
we're not hearing that. And generally we haven't heard that

(36:17):
with international players. They're more likely to stay put a
Janisan to compo staying in Milwaukee. That's generally the trend
there a player like John Morand would mean, well, he
has to go to a big market. But we've been
hearing that for years with Donovan Mitchell being in Utah.
So again, I'm hoping that we're arriving in a new

(36:38):
place where a guy doesn't feel the need to have
to go to a big market or an established franchise
in order to compete for titles. And I also hope
that Job and the Memphis Grizzlies are able to keep
together that group because I just I think it's ready

(36:59):
made for the Warriors and the Grizzlies for the next
three four five years to have these battles. They're already
building history right now. And when you're look at whether
it's Jordan Pool or Steph Curry, the battle between them
and John Rant at the point guard spot, the way
they play very similarly, James Wiseman comes along and now

(37:22):
he's going up against Jaron Jackson Jr. It's like all
the storylines are there for the Grizzlies Warriors to be
a great rivalry for years to come if everybody stays
in place. Yeah, I agree, I was saying in the
meeting this morning, I feel like this series has been
going on for a month. There's just been so much
that's happened in this series that it's it's absolutely establishing history.

(37:46):
I'm with you there that they do need to stay together. Well,
Boston got a big win last night, So now that
series is even, what is your expectation for that series
moving forward. I did not expect it to go seven.
I expected the Bucks to win last night in this
to be a six game series. I now expect to
go seven, and I'm gonna stay with the Bucks, but

(38:07):
they need some guys to step up, and they need
to put a muzzle on Al Horford at thirty five
years old. If you had told me, yeah, you know what,
you know what's going to happen. Al is going to
not only dunk on Jannis, Notatakombo, He's going to drive
past him and dunk on him. And he's going to
get a career playoff high thirty points in a game

(38:30):
four where the Bucks have an opportunity to put a
stranglehold on the series. Did not expect any of that.
I do believe Jannis is playing well. He's not playing great.
The three's not falling. The free throws have been a
little iffy. But more than anything else, nobody's coming along
to join the party. Jason Tatum is getting an Al Horford,
he's getting a Marcus Smart, He's getting he's getting help.

(38:54):
And I look to Bobby Portis as the biggest absentee
to this point. I look when PJ. Tucker left and
went to Miami. I was not worried about it because
I thought Bobby Portis was ready to step in. I
thought he was a better offensive weapon, and I thought
defensively he could do enough to make up for it.

(39:14):
He did that against Chicago. When he did it against Chicago,
they won in a walk. I expected to see more
of that in this series, and I think it's more
vital that he give them that in this series. But
fifteen minutes and four points in the last game is
not going to get it done. So we'll have to
see whether mister googly eyes Bobby Buckets is able to

(39:36):
step up and give them a little more in this
next game. Somebody has to Drew Holliday, Bobby Portis, Grayson Allen,
another big, big game. Somebody has to join the party
with Janis. If the Bucks are going to get this done.
We're talking to Rick Bucker On the Herd, someone said
that that PJ. Tucker move was going to be significant.

(39:57):
I don't know who that could possibly be. But when
it happened, then it's not. It's not significant yet. She
don't Now, don't start assuming Miami is Miami isn't a
don't fight themselves. They sure are. Let's not jump to conclusion.
They sure are. We have we have two minutes leapt
so let's go there. Then what do you think of Harden?

(40:19):
Is he going to string together a series of these performances?
We know Miami, Harden is very different than some other cities. Yeah, no,
I mean this has been the problem. I've never doubted
that that Harden could have a game like this. But
what we expect from the James Hardens, what we expect
expect from guys who have been named to the seventy
all time Greats, is that they are consistently great, and

(40:42):
that has not been in And I don't know about
I don't you know. I hate to downplay what Harden did,
but the three was falling and he was getting calls
at the rim and the Philadelphia seventy sixers seem to
have bought into the idea that Harden was washed. I
don't don't think they played him particularly hard. I believe

(41:04):
that that is the Heat played him particularly hard. I
expect that that is going to be different in this
next game, and that Harden is going to be tested
and that lack of conditioning is going to show itself
once again. So I'm not buying that Harden has suddenly
leaped into, you know, a time machine and is going

(41:25):
back to the Harden that we're used to who gave
his consistent performances. I would be more likely to bet
on that this was a one off and we'll see
Miami Harden once again. Well for the Heat sake, I
hope you're right. But it was fun to watch James
Harden back as himself for that game, and he was
playing with real energy. It was fun to watch. Thanks
so much for jumping on, Rick, appreciate you have a

(41:47):
great week. You have a doctor Joey Taylor in for
calling Cowherd alongside Alex Curry a week. If you don't
know what Rick is talking about. I got an honorary
doctor from my alma mater this weekend. After I gave
the commencement speech, which I was very nervous about. But uh,
but did it? You know it was a checklist like list.
It was. I mean, I had ever planned on it

(42:09):
because I didn't think that I would ever get to
a point where someone wants to Yeah, but you did great.
Stop saying you were nervous because you did an amazing job.
Let's put that behind us. You did amazing, You inspired
a bunch of young children, and now you're a doctor. Thanked,
doctor Joy, Thank you very much, Alex. We'll talk to
Mary Kay Cabot, one of my favorite reporters, Cleveland Brown's reporter.
She has an amazing job. We'll talk to her and

(42:31):
discuss this new wave of Lakers information that we just
got from a Bill Plashki article. Coming up next on
The Herd