All Episodes

July 4, 2024 • 33 mins

Fox Sports' Rob Stone joins the show to discuss US soccer as the nation looks for answers after Team USA gets bounced from Copa America earlier this week. Will it ever attract the top talent in the country? Are the Philadelphia 76ers better or worse with Paul George on the roster?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noone Pacific. 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 Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Welcome to the third hour of The Herd.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
It's me Jason Mcatyre in for Colin Cowherd. Happy fourth
of July, everybody. Oh, we're having a great show. Joined
today by Alex Curry. Alex big plans for the fourth.

Speaker 5 (00:40):
Right after the new Happy Birthday America. I'm gonna be
barbecue hopping, which seems like the right thing to do.

Speaker 6 (00:45):
On Fourth of July.

Speaker 5 (00:47):
I used to do that, like before, I've always worked
Fourth of July. Worked in baseball for a decade, so
there's always games, but just kind of like biking along
the strand in Manhattan. Her messif each party hop and
I'm just gonna parcue.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
I remember pool hopping as a kid, and we would
just ride our bikes.

Speaker 6 (01:07):
Different you knew We're like at the beach.

Speaker 4 (01:09):
The cute lifeguards are so you try to sneak into
that pool and then try to make something happen get
a number.

Speaker 6 (01:14):
I didn't really have a lot of I didn't really
have like the pool experience.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
I'll just tell a quick fireworks story. Everybody be safe
with the fireworks. So we would go up to New
York to see relatives. We were kids, and my brother
and I you know, we were you know, kind of
suburban kids at this point from in Virginia and we're
up in New York and our cousins have some friends
and they break out these you know, pretty dangerous looking
fireworks and we're like, uh uh no thanks.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
They're like, no, this is gonna be awesome. Just wait.

Speaker 4 (01:38):
So they go to the middle of the street. Alex
with what I guess what's an.

Speaker 6 (01:42):
M eighty is that I don't do fireworks. I like
miss safety.

Speaker 5 (01:44):
I'm like safety first, smart, like with everything in life.

Speaker 6 (01:48):
So fireworks are like a big freak out no for me.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
So this friend of our cousins is like, yeah, go
hide behind the car over there, and you know it's
gonna be awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
So they like this off.

Speaker 4 (01:58):
They're like cover your ears, and this thing goes off
like a sonic boom in the neighborhood. Just huge five
car alarms go off, and my brother and I are like, oh,
we're so dead, We're gonna get busted. So we just
start booking it back to my aunt's house. And we
were terrified, but we told the story all the time.
Oh yeah, hanging out with tough five leaves.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Guys.

Speaker 6 (02:16):
Now we've seen the horror story.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
Yeah, be careful, folks, don't do it.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern n a EM Pacific.

Speaker 4 (02:24):
Happy July fourth, everybody back here on the Herd. Jason
McIntyre in for Colin Cowherd. Let's welcome in a great guest.
Rob Stone Studio hosts a lot of our soccer stuff,
big noon kickoff all around. Nice guy, Rob, how are
you man?

Speaker 7 (02:40):
Happy four? Happy to join you. I'll be right there
next to you a couple hours. My friend with the
little copa action.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
Obviously the big Argentina matchup tonight on Fox. Rob Let's
get started with not as positive of a topic but
US soccer Greg Burholter. It doesn't seem great, but I
don't know. I keep getting the vibe that he's probably
gonna get a stay of execution here and stick with
the US. What's your best guess now after the COPA flameout?

Speaker 7 (03:07):
Yeah, I actually think my best guess is probably that
they're going to make a move and go on from him.
I'm fine if he stays. I'm a huge fan of
Greg Borholter. I appreciate all the work he does behind
the scenes, and he really cares and is invested in
this program. But you know, the failure of not being
able to get out of the group of Copo America
is a huge mark on his record. That was the

(03:29):
bare minimum to be achieved this summer for the US
men's national team, particularly with the World Cup less than
two years out now. So my feeling is, and particularly
the fact that US Soccer sent out, you know, a
statement roughly two hours after that final result that hey,
we're going to do an exhaustive, extensive review of this situation. Ay,
that's what you do. Anyways, Why do you need to

(03:50):
put a statement out for it? To me, that was
kind of grease in the wheel that they're letting the
fan base know that we're on it and we're probably
going to be making some type of move again in
international soccer circles. With the national team, the cycle is
usually four years max. With the head coach. You know,
you get through a World Cup and then you kind
of reboot it. You need a new voice, you need

(04:11):
to listen to different things, have different ideas, there's different
players coming in through the system. So rarely as a
coach there kind of extended through two World Cup cycles.
It happens, and it happens successfully for some nations, but
those are usually nations that are a little more solid
and solidified, are solidified and on a nice firm ground

(04:33):
with their international soccer scene, where there's not a whole
lot of movement needing to be made. With us, clearly,
there needs to be something changing, and I frankly think
a lot of it is on the players. You know,
I don't think this this generation is as good as
we hype them up to be. They certainly have some moments,
and they certainly have some players, but overall, I think
our expectations might have been a little too high for them.

Speaker 4 (04:54):
Well, I don't know, we're calling it the Golden Generation.
They got out of the group stage at the World Cup.
I guess we could start here. The team performing better
than they did at the World Cup.

Speaker 7 (05:05):
No, yeah, no, I flat lined is the way I
think I would do it. And I don't think the
performance at the World Cup was good enough either. I mean, yes,
it got through the group stage, and that is what
you want, and I totally understand that. But you know,
they had to scrape through, they had to get that
the victory over at Iran just to get to the Dutch.

(05:25):
And then against the Dutch it was two different nations playing, right,
I mean there was it was them and then it
was us and we were not good enough. And that's
fine because the Dutch and the Netherlands are a great program, right,
but we're not there knocking on the door yet with
these big boys. And that was kind of the hope
of this Cope America that when we took on Uruguay,
when we took on potentially Colombia or Brazil and the

(05:46):
quarter files, that that we'd have a real opportunity to
prove ourselves and to take down one of the quote
unquote you know big boys of international soccer. Instead, you know,
we lose the Panama even though we're down a man,
you know, we lose to Uruguay, an opportunity to prove
to a lot of people that this program is moving
in the right direction. Same result again, you know we're
not good enough.

Speaker 4 (06:07):
Yeah, how close do you think we are? Is this
like an overall philosophy change?

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Is it?

Speaker 4 (06:12):
There?

Speaker 3 (06:12):
Isn't like one player, It doesn't feel like that.

Speaker 7 (06:15):
No, No, it's it's a couple of players away. And
you know, I think we're still kind of holding out
that hope that we're going to get that Lebron James,
that Michael Jordan, that Tiger Woods of American soccer. And
I thought we would have had it by now, and
it's not there. And that's a little frustrating. And we
understand the talent pool is diluted here in the United

(06:36):
States compared to a lot of other countries with all
the other sports that are pulling at the elite athletes.
But I thought we would have had to break through player.
I mean, Christian Polisic is a very good player, don't
get me wrong, but he's not a world beater. You know,
He's he's not up there with Ronaldo and Messi. You know,
he's just a nice, complimentary player on ac Milan, Like

(06:57):
he had a great season and he's our best player
probably by far, so he needs more of a supporting cast.
You know, I said it after the Bolivia game. You
know we've got Batman, who are the Robbins going to be?
And we need a couple of Robins. It's same in
the NBA playoffs. You see it all the time, right,
you can't have one star and go deep. You need
two or three to really make a move, particularly in

(07:19):
soccer when you know you have eleven on the field
at the same time. So the US depth needs to
get better. There needs to be better players, and there
needs to be more people who want to attack, who
want to score, who are threatening one v one, and
we don't really have too much of that on this
roster these days.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
It's weird though, Morocco, a country of thirty seven million
people with zero soccer history in the last forty years,
went to the semi finals of the World Cup, like
they got to the front Morocco without like world beating superstars.
Every World Cup cycle, somebody kind of breaks through is
a surprise into the quarters of the semis. I just
don't see why that can't be us, And maybe I'm

(07:57):
too I'm too romanticized with like the tournament, how like
George Mason breaks through or Butler, you know, and you
get these one offs and it's like, oh my, Florida
Gulf Coast, why can't US soccer do it?

Speaker 7 (08:10):
It's a great question, you know.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
Me.

Speaker 7 (08:11):
They've made runs to the quarterfinals, They've been you know,
agonizingly close to kind of jumping over that threshold and
getting themselves into a semi final situation where you would say, yes,
this team has arrived. You know, it's knockout round, so
things can get awfully fluky. You catch a team on
the wrong day or the right day, or you know,
you have that region support, which was really what the

(08:32):
deal was with Morocco and Qatar. You know, the proximity
of the Moroccan fan base to Qatar and what they
brought in that energy. You're kind of seeing that in
the Euros right now with Turkey A and what they're
doing in Germany right now, they're following a similar path
to Morocco. I don't have that answer of why not
us right A lot of people are saying why not us.

(08:53):
The closest I can get is that we just don't
have enough game changing talent at the moment.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
Yeah, it's tough to argue with that.

Speaker 4 (09:01):
I'm gonna ask the World Cup being hosted obviously Canada, Mexico,
United States, and Mexico and the US right now stink.
Based on the Copo America results, Canada somehow broke through
and who knows they might win their next match.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
I don't know what. What's the state of soccer in
North America at this point?

Speaker 7 (09:18):
Not great and and a little frustrating, to be honest
with you. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna try to
make this a fast, deep dive into soccer here in
our region which is called CONCACAF, which is you know,
North and Central America and the Caribbean. So all those
nations and and the the head of CONCACAF, if you will,
that the bosses have decided that we're gonna have all

(09:40):
these all these little tournaments and these games and these
these these these setups to raise the level of concor
cat which is great, you know. So it's let's make
you know, El Salvador better, and and let's make some
of these island nations better. And I get it, let's
raise everybody. But the problem is it's at the detriment
of the United States. It's at the detriment of Mexico

(10:03):
because when they have these available dates to play games,
the dates are suddenly occupied by all of these little
matches that have already been predetermined, if you will, against Panama's,
you know, and against El Salvadors and Honduras and Guatemala,
rather than having these windows to say, let's go to Asia,
let's go to Europe's, let's challenge ourselves against the best

(10:25):
in you know, difficult situations. So if you look at
the international soccer calendar right now, it is so tough
to find games that you really want to play if
you're a United States because your hands are kind of tied.
You look next summer to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, you're saying, well,
let's invite some other countries. You can't because others are
still playing World Cup qualifyings, so you can't kind of

(10:48):
boost up the Gold Cup next summer, like the Copa
America was boosted this summer by you know, Mexico and
the US and Panama and Costa Rica et centric Canada
coming in to elevate it and add more teams to it.
So it's a frustrating situation if you're US in Mexico
where you're being forced to kind of play down a
little bit to raise everybody else up to your level.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Man, that's depressing.

Speaker 4 (11:10):
I guess we could wrap on this. You work with
Alexi Lalas. I know you guys are buddies. He threw
his hat in the ring to replace Burholter. I mean,
I asked him about it. I don't think it's the
worst idea in the world. I know you're scoffing, but Rob,
let's be real, Like, we're in the era of personality coaches.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
We see JJ Reddick was a podcaster.

Speaker 4 (11:27):
And an announcer and he's now coaching the Lakers, and
we've seen this in the NFL with Gruden, Like, I
don't know why not.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
Alexi.

Speaker 7 (11:35):
We we had a little off day get together at
my patio, so Clint Dempsey and Carly Lloyd were here
waiting and Alexi rolled down and they all just started barking,
ont coach, coach, how you doing, coach? And he just smiled, No,
he's not the coach. I love him and I'd be
fine if he was the coach, but you know, we
need somebody who's had a coaching job before. Listen, Alexi,

(11:58):
I don't even know if he coached, so to be
honest with you, I know he reffed it. But he
cares deeply about this program, and I do think a
lot of people forget that sometimes that you know his
heart is it bleeds red, white and blue, and he
cares immensely about this program. And he also knows when
we all know how important to Summers from now is.

(12:18):
You know, twenty twenty six, this World Cup is going
to be the biggest sporting event this planet has ever seen,
times two or three. It's going to take over this country,
and it's an opportunity to win over so many new fans,
new sponsors, pull in new players. You're like, there's gonna
be little kids out there who want to be baseball players.
You're going to be watching a World Cup in twenty
twenty six and say, wait a second, I want to pivot.

(12:40):
This is the sport I love. All of a sudden,
like this is a generational changing moment that's going to
happen right here in our backyard, and we need to
be prepared for it off the field and on the field.
And I think off the field we're going to be
all right. On the field, we need to we need
to figure things out really fast, really really fast.

Speaker 4 (12:59):
Yeah. Time we had the World Cup here it bursts.
The MLS back in the nineties.

Speaker 7 (13:04):
Absolutely changed everything, and it's it's only going to get
bigger and better and there's more opportunities now than there
was back then.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
Very exciting time.

Speaker 4 (13:11):
All right, Rob Stone, we'll watch you later tonight on
Fox with the pregame stuff for the big Argentina match.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
Great stuff is always happy.

Speaker 7 (13:20):
July fourth, Buddy, Seybody, We'll see you around town.

Speaker 4 (13:23):
All right, Rob Stone, Fox studio host. Just a great guy,
knows college football soccer.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
Love talking to him. Let's go to Alex Curry with
the news. No, no, turn on the news.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
This is the herd Line News.

Speaker 6 (13:36):
I love that he shared.

Speaker 5 (13:37):
They're all giving Alexi, you know, a little a little
bit of what would you say, popa mo hard time,
A hard time.

Speaker 6 (13:45):
Hello, coach.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
That was great.

Speaker 5 (13:47):
So okay, Well let's start in the NBA, because Chris
Paul agreed to a one year deal with the Spurs
after being waived by the Warriors at the start of
free agency. Now he's one of the most established veterans
in the league going into his twentieth season, and Draymond
Green is very excited to see how CP three fits
with Webby.

Speaker 8 (14:06):
Parents CP with Winby to teach that young fella the way.
CP one of the greatest vests I've ever been around.
And I just spent a year around him as a
vet myself, and he was a vet to me. And
so that's gonna be great for Wmby. You get a
chance to and since kind of go help mold him,

(14:29):
and like, what an honor, because you only get that
if you've been as great as CP hasn't as respected
as CP is. For them to feel comfortable bringing you
in there, knowing how strong their personality is, they feel
good about what you're going to bring to that kid,
that's special.

Speaker 5 (14:50):
It's so important for these young stars to have a
veteran mentorship. We've heard players talk about this, like Dwayne Wade.
When Shaq came to Miami in his second year in
the league, he said, he walked me through how to
be myself, how to be a superstar.

Speaker 6 (15:07):
Said he completely changed his life.

Speaker 5 (15:08):
He talked about it in his documentary that he had
and just having that support someone that you can bounce
things off of, Yeah, ask questions to look up to
in a sense like it's just do you see it
working with CP three and one.

Speaker 4 (15:22):
Yeah, I mean he's probably worth at least ten wins
everywhere he goes. Remember he went to the Suns, they
couldn't do anything. Sons that go to the finals thanks
to Chris Paul. He went to the Rockets and nearly
took down the Durant Warriors. Like Chris Paul is a winner,
I'm not the biggest fan of him with Lobb City,
he was working. He just hasn't been able to break
through and win a chip. But he's worth at least
ten wins.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
But when you hear like the dynasty of the Warriors,
Draymond Greene said, I felt like I was learning from him.
Like that is such I praise for any player. So
I'm excited for Wemby to just kind of have that
strong of a veteran presence. He's a great He's a
dad too, so it's like you have that father figure

(16:02):
but also mentor that you can kind of talk to
and bounce things off of.

Speaker 4 (16:06):
Popovich is in his seventies. I'm pretty sure like one
of the you know, seminal coaches in NBA history, Chris
Paul one of the greater point guards to ten point
guard of.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
All times great. It's a good, good foundational structure.

Speaker 6 (16:17):
For really good for Wembam. All right on to the NFL.

Speaker 5 (16:20):
Joe Burrow is one of the most quarterbacks in the league,
but when he was asked to rank his top five,
he declined to answer. He said he doesn't like those
top five lists because he feels like it takes away
from certain people's accomplishments. He said that the best guy
on one Sunday may not be the best the next Sunday,
and with all the ups and downs in the league,
it doesn't serve anyone to make those lists.

Speaker 6 (16:41):
Now I'm not mad at his answer.

Speaker 5 (16:43):
Obviously these lists are great for us the media to
have something to talk about.

Speaker 6 (16:49):
But I think about this similar to art.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
A lot of it is subjective and your perspective. But
I do believe in tears, and I think that's kind
of how I look at the the quarterbacks in the NFL.
And speaking of that, like I would have Joe Burrow
in one of my top tiers if we're doing like
a top five.

Speaker 6 (17:09):
Obviously Holmes in.

Speaker 5 (17:11):
A tier of his own, and then you have like
a Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen.

Speaker 6 (17:18):
And then the.

Speaker 4 (17:19):
Whoa, whoa, what are you missing?

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Somebody rock party in that show.

Speaker 5 (17:24):
So there we go that fifth, That fifth one would
be tough for me.

Speaker 6 (17:28):
That fifth and that third tier is like a C. J.

Speaker 5 (17:31):
Stroud, Brock, Purdy, Herbert, Aaron Rodgers, Jalen Hurts, like that
could go a lot of different ways, but there's definitely I.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
Think you got the top four.

Speaker 5 (17:41):
Brock's in that bier one Tier two. I knew you
were gonna go borrowmore. He's there, listen. I know he
would be in my third tier. Kind of like that fifth.
Fifth pick could go a lot of different ways, Like
Burrow said, depending on the Sunday.

Speaker 4 (17:57):
Yeah, I'll get the Sunday getting a raven. Remember the
Sunday It's people were pretty It was like, oh they're
that Now we've seen the real rock party. He had
like three interceptions in the first half, maybe four.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
He was awful. They got to see you.

Speaker 6 (18:07):
You If that would be your top four with Purty
at five.

Speaker 4 (18:11):
I would have pretty I think Party is the top
five quarterback. Yeah, I know people don't like to hear that,
but again, I.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
Got two years.

Speaker 5 (18:16):
He'd be my first tier with all those other guys.
I like the pyramid teers.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
So you have Mahomes and then your second tier is who.

Speaker 6 (18:26):
Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
You don't have party in that group.

Speaker 5 (18:30):
No, I have him won below man slight disagreement.

Speaker 6 (18:33):
Yeah, I like that.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
It's good. It's good today.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
So by the way, Burrow's answer, yeah, is a good one.
It's a great would not give any because I saw
people keep they asked these wide receivers your best quarterback. Yeah,
and all these jerks, sorry guys keep leaving Sauce Gardner
off the top five quarterback Listen, we're talking about so
dumb out.

Speaker 5 (18:50):
But I mean it's interesting because like there's subtle ways
to ask quarterback this, like quarterbacks this question. Like when
Mahomes was on First Things First, they who are you
watching when you're not playing in games?

Speaker 4 (19:02):
Are on?

Speaker 5 (19:03):
And he said he's watching Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
and c J. Stroud those are his those are his
top quarterbacks without actually giving you the list. That's a
sneaky wave of like you're watching your top competition.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
You're watching CJ.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
Stroud over Jalen Hurts. I mean Jalen Hurts nearly beat
Mahomes in the Super Bowl. I mean breakout season.

Speaker 5 (19:26):
Breakout season obviously not as big as a sample size.

Speaker 3 (19:30):
Yeah, yah, Stroud is here. I need more. I need
at least two years of data.

Speaker 6 (19:35):
He's not even a full two years.

Speaker 3 (19:36):
That's fair year and a half. You're in sixteenth.

Speaker 6 (19:40):
Yeah, something like that. All right, let's finish with the Olympics.

Speaker 5 (19:43):
Simone Biles is headed back to the Olympics after earning
her spot on the US gymnastics team last weekend, which
was incredible if you watched it, and her husband, Bear
safety Jonathan Owens, will be right by her side. Chicago
has reportedly given Owen's time off during training camp this
summer so he can travel to Paris and watch his
wife compete for Team USA. Now this is a great

(20:06):
excuse to miss training camp. Unlike Rogers, No, his wife
is making one of the biggest comebacks we've seen in
the Olympics after as you remember, she got the twisties
in the twenty twenty Olympics and kind of had to
pull back out of the list. So it's kind of like,
what do you call it, the yips? It's really cool,

(20:29):
but in gymnastics, you lose yourself in the air, which
is incredibly dangerous with how many flips and turns that
they're doing. I mean, Simon Viles is the most decorated
gymnast male or female in the world.

Speaker 6 (20:44):
She is absolutely incredible.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
This is a huge moment for her to be able
to come back and have this redemption. She also, I
think recently had a documentary come out where she talks
about all this and everything that she was going through
mentally and to get back to this point. And even
just watching her qualify over the last week, she is
so good and she's gonna make history again.

Speaker 6 (21:07):
And I love that the Bears are allowing her.

Speaker 5 (21:11):
Husband to go and be there in support her and
watch her make history in Paris.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
Yeah, mex Curry with the news.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
heard Line news.

Speaker 4 (21:24):
All right, coming up in best for last, So NBA
Free Agency's basically done.

Speaker 3 (21:29):
I'll tell you which teams are better and which teams
are worse. That's next.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
Be sure to catch live editions on The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 9 (21:42):
Hey It's Ben, host of the Fifth Hour with Ben
Maller with me and a lot to have you join
us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in
God's name is the Fifth Hour. I'll tell you it's
a spin off of that Ben Maler show, a cult
hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if
you will?

Speaker 7 (21:58):
A world will?

Speaker 9 (21:59):
We chat with captains of industry in media, sports and
more every week explore some amazing facts about human nature
and more. Listen to The Fifth Hour with Ben Matherer
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get
your podcasts.

Speaker 5 (22:13):
The Summer of Stars continues with two huge Euros quarterfinals
tomorrow on Fox. First, Spain faces tournament hosts Germany at
noon Eastern. Then at three Rinaldo leads Portugal against France
and Bape.

Speaker 4 (22:26):
I'll go Spain in France and those patches. I haven't
bet them Spain on the road, essentially because lot.

Speaker 5 (22:33):
Of people were picking Germany. They are talking to Alexi
being the host.

Speaker 4 (22:39):
Yeah, Spain has looked tremendous in the Euros. All right,
let's get the best for last.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
So we're gonna go through whether teams got better or worse?

Speaker 6 (22:49):
For better or worse?

Speaker 4 (22:51):
Oh yeah, so Alex will run the show because I
don't know what I'm doing.

Speaker 6 (22:54):
Yes, you do, you're gonna answer? Are you ready for it?

Speaker 5 (22:56):
Are the seventy six ers better or worse after acquiring
Paul George?

Speaker 3 (23:01):
Well, it's got to be better? Yeah right? They improve
for sure with Paul George. I will just.

Speaker 4 (23:06):
Point out to be a bit of a naysay or
another Philly fans hate me right now. Joel and Beach's
partner with Ben Simmons didn't work. Partner with James Harden
didn't work. Partner with Jimmy Butler didn't work. They have
not gotten to the conference finals. He's had a lot
of good wingmen. Now he's got Paul George.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
Will it work? I don't know. Listen, they're gonna.

Speaker 4 (23:22):
Win fifty plus games. I've got them as the third seed.
They're better for sure.

Speaker 6 (23:26):
Okay, Now let's look at the other team.

Speaker 5 (23:27):
Are the Clippers better or worse after losing Paul George?

Speaker 3 (23:31):
Par the paper Clips are worse?

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Definitely. Kawhi Leonard probably gonna play fifty games. And listen,
I would not be shocked if we saw like a
turn back to clock James Harden where he's like, yo.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Paul George is gone. I get all the shots I want.

Speaker 4 (23:44):
This is my life, baby, and James Harden's jacking like
twenty two shots a game.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
They're definitely worse. I don't know. They're a play in
team now. If Kawhi plays a lot, they're probably.

Speaker 6 (23:54):
Tough to stay healthy.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yeah, but they're worse. Yeah, all right.

Speaker 5 (23:58):
Are the Mouths better or worse off after acquiring Klay Thompson?

Speaker 3 (24:02):
They're better?

Speaker 4 (24:03):
Yeah, Clay's a tremendous shooter. I think he was fourth
in the league and made threes last year. It's tough
to argue that they got worse only on defense, but
ultimately scoring was the issue in the finals. I think
they saw that and they said, we need another gunner
and good luck sagging off Luca. Klay thompsone was just
bury threes in your face online.

Speaker 6 (24:22):
So they're better what they need?

Speaker 8 (24:23):
All right.

Speaker 5 (24:23):
Are the Warriors better or worse off after losing Klay Thompson, Well.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
The Warriors are unequivocally worse.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
However, in the last what like thirty seconds, the news
just broke. Buddy Healed is going to the Warriors. But
I don't think that materially changes things. You lose Chris
Paul and Clay Thompson. Yeah, okay, you bring in Buddy Healed,
Kyle Anderson and de Anthony Melton. I feel a little
bad for Curry and listen, it's probably a little too

(24:51):
early on July fourth for this kind of a hot take.
But when do we start worrying when the Warriors are like,
we stink.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Sorry, we're holding you back, Steph?

Speaker 2 (24:59):
Where do you want to go?

Speaker 3 (25:00):
We'll trade anywhere.

Speaker 5 (25:01):
I mean, you're not not finish finish out his career.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
I mean if they're like a thirty four win team,
what's the point.

Speaker 6 (25:07):
I don't know, spend your whole career same team.

Speaker 4 (25:10):
I don't know, Steph Curry's he should not be on
a crap team.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
He's too good.

Speaker 6 (25:15):
He's a Fifthston on your list.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yes, yes, love that.

Speaker 5 (25:19):
Okay, are the Magic better or worse off acquiring KCP
Oh that's.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
A sneaky better.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
I think they're fringe top five in the East.

Speaker 4 (25:27):
I know we're like not allowed to talk about bad
teams like the Orlando Magic, but I'm.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
Just telling you they've got some duders.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
They're built like the Celtics kind of with guard heavy,
wing heavy.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
They got like Jalen Suggs and KCP in the backcourt
that's really strong.

Speaker 4 (25:41):
Defensively, Powello Benko looked good. They pushed the Cavs to
seven last year in the first round trail. I think
the Magic are better. I think they're probably.

Speaker 3 (25:50):
I think they'll sneak they'll approach top four in the East.

Speaker 4 (25:53):
I don't think they're obviously on the tier of Boston
and New York and Philly, but they're they're right there.

Speaker 6 (25:58):
Helps, they're in the East. Right are the Nuggets better
or worse after losing KCP?

Speaker 3 (26:03):
This is tough.

Speaker 4 (26:03):
They're worse, and you know, I know, Nicola Jokic is
like riding horses in Serby or something. Right now, the
Nuggets have been through some turmoil in the last couple
of months, Alex, between Aaron Gordon, you know, the unfortunate
passing of his younger brother or maybe older brother, and
then Michael Porter Junior's brother embroiled in the gambling. And
now you lose KCP. Jamal Murray's got an injury history.

(26:28):
I know people love the Nuggets, and yes, the starting
five was awesome, but Alex. This team is you know,
if Jokic misses a month or Jamal Murray misses three weeks,
like they're gonna.

Speaker 5 (26:38):
Be If your top two guys aren't on the court,
then you're in trouble.

Speaker 4 (26:42):
Yeah, we're gonna start to hear some questions about the
Michael Porter junior contract. He got a max deal a
couple of years ago. Did not a lot of depth
on the bench. It could be a tough year for
the Nuggets. I don't think they're top four in the
East in the West.

Speaker 3 (26:53):
Sorry, all right?

Speaker 6 (26:54):
Are the thunder better or worse? After acquiring Isaiah Hart's.

Speaker 3 (26:58):
Time, they're better?

Speaker 4 (27:00):
Oka See may have had the best offseason of anybody.
I can't believe I'm saying that sneaky. I don't know
how the executives here are gonna like us talking about
Oka se all season because they're gonna win like sixty
sixty five games.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
They're just good. They got a lot of dudes, they're young,
they got draft capital.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
You know, I kind of was making fun of Cowherd
for loving the Okac trajectory, but he convinced you. They're
as good of a shape as anybody right now, Like
they got Caruso and gave up like nothing. Josh Giddy cares.
They've got older picks. They've got probably a top five
roster in the league. Alex, They're big, got a lot

(27:35):
better with Hartenstein.

Speaker 5 (27:36):
Okay, well, let's talk about your next Are they better
or worse after losing Isaiah Hartstein?

Speaker 4 (27:41):
Well, listen, I think you gotta go worse because he's
an integral player. But it's not that much worse. You know,
he was very good in the postseason. He's just his
role was limited. He's gonna rebound and defend, probably blocking
a couple shots. He's not like stepping out like Porzingis
and hitting threes. I do think they need a new
backup set. And when they faced and beating the playoffs, no,

(28:03):
Hartenstein will very much show up.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
Just file that away.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
I know Sixers fans hate me right now. I went
on social media briefly during the commercial. Alex Sixers fans
are just I mean, it's a torrent of diarrhea. Jason,
You're an idiot.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Hartenstein.

Speaker 6 (28:17):
They're gonna miss him.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Sorry, They're gonna miss Hartenstein against and beating the playoffs,
that's for sure.

Speaker 5 (28:23):
All right, Let's move on to the Spurs. Are they
better or worse after acquiring Chris Paul?

Speaker 3 (28:28):
Better? Probably? Yeah, ten wins better. I know it's a mentorship.

Speaker 4 (28:32):
Yeah for Webby, he walks in that locker room and
he doesn't need to like gain respective anybody. No, it's instant.
Everybody knows it. Oh damn it. It's the They used
to call him the point god Gawd, which I thought
was lame. But list' man, he's really good. He's just
a very good point gup. Now he's not on Steff
Curry's level. Let's not go overboard.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
But Chris Paul definitely makes the Spurs back, all.

Speaker 5 (28:55):
Right, Speaking of staff, Are the Warriors better or worse
after losing Chris Paul?

Speaker 3 (29:01):
They're worse?

Speaker 4 (29:02):
You know this is I know we're piling on the Warriors.
They had a great run. You know the media, Alex,
you've been a part of the media for a while. Yes,
media loves to build up and then just tear it down. Yeah,
but they also love a comeback story.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
They do. But can the Warriors come back from this?
It could tend again.

Speaker 5 (29:19):
They said that what after losing KD, can they come
back and one another? Then they came back and won
the twenty two but again, like, now you don't have
your og, you lost Clay.

Speaker 3 (29:29):
You're a little older Draymond. I don't know what he
offers you.

Speaker 4 (29:31):
They did have Wiggins, which helped bounce back, but he's
looking like a shell of himself.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
I just think the.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
Warriors are worse, and I'm worried that they might miss
the playoffs.

Speaker 6 (29:42):
It's not good, all right? Are the Lakers better or worse?

Speaker 5 (29:45):
After drafting Dalton Connect and Bronnie James better?

Speaker 4 (29:50):
Come on, Dalton Connect aka Connect four.

Speaker 6 (29:53):
I love that. I love that he's going right.

Speaker 4 (29:56):
Here's a little Bronnie James. I didn't know he had
highlights from USA. I thought it was just a w
the NBA draft a combine. Here's look at Bronni.

Speaker 3 (30:03):
Get up. He'll flush on you.

Speaker 7 (30:06):
I mean he is.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
He's got some hobs and some defense.

Speaker 4 (30:08):
I like Connect instill, like, get Corey and Prince out
of the rotating I mean, he's not.

Speaker 6 (30:13):
Gonna that's what the Lakers.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Need, ye shoot it? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (30:16):
Player of the Year.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
I mean, listen, I know people don't love two white
guys on the wing in Austin Reeves and Delta Connect, Like,
who are they gonna guard.

Speaker 6 (30:26):
You're making shots.

Speaker 4 (30:27):
Yeah, and Anthony Davis on the back line, Lakers are better.
I'm probably on an island here. I know Reddick doesn't
like the engagement. For me, I'm telling you Lakers are.
They're firmly in the top six for me.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
Firm.

Speaker 5 (30:39):
And I also think Bronnie makes Lebron better. I mentioned
this off the top of the show. What's like the
one thing that would motivate Lebron more than just himself
wanting to win something, to win something with his son,
that's that's only going to make him better.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
I do wonder, you know, is this gonna be lebron
a I'm first of the building, last out. I got
to show my son here, this is what it takes you, hope.
So I'm not gonna take he's that guy anyway, lower
my minutes.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
I'm not taking. I'm not gonna load manage now. That's you.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
Gotta be careful with that, obviously, because he's.

Speaker 3 (31:11):
Not gonna close games.

Speaker 4 (31:12):
He's not gonna want to come off the court. But
I do wonder if we're gonna see Lebron like no
days off.

Speaker 9 (31:17):
Man.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
I got to show you this is what it takes
to be great, you hope. So I think the Lakers are.
I think they're gonna behamely.

Speaker 6 (31:23):
It's only going to motivate him to do better.

Speaker 4 (31:25):
A lot of doom and gloom though, Alex, A lot
of doom bloor I mean immediate fans.

Speaker 6 (31:30):
Yeah, if there's a.

Speaker 5 (31:31):
Reason to we gon't rejected to.

Speaker 6 (31:34):
Bring down the top.

Speaker 5 (31:35):
People try to do that. But I appreciate greatness when
it's right in front of your face. That's Lebron James here,
and we're gonna witness history, a father son duo in
the NBA for the first time.

Speaker 6 (31:43):
This is only going to motivate him to be better.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
Yeah, so uh a little best for last. That was fun.
It's been a good week so far. July fourth.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
You know we'll be safe tonight obviously, but uh, I
do have.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
A question for you, Alex.

Speaker 4 (31:57):
Okay, when you come into work tomorrow, because we will
be here tomorrow. I know a lot of people will
be you just make it a four day weekend or
five or whatever. Yeah, will we be you know, a
little wobbly, little tired.

Speaker 5 (32:08):
Be great, taking it easy. We're barbecue hopping tonight. I
told you, yeah, I'm gonna hit like three different barbecues.

Speaker 3 (32:13):
I do have barbecues. I do love the fire listen.

Speaker 4 (32:16):
I didn't know this was a thing, but every year
in La, the fireworks are crazy.

Speaker 7 (32:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (32:20):
If you have like a high like viewpoint, you can
see him like all the way from like the valley
like across LA to the beach.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
It's beautiful.

Speaker 4 (32:30):
Yeah, I've never I mean, I grew up in the
DC area, so we'd go to like the Monument on
July fourth when I was a kid, and it was
awesome fireworks shows.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
But La is different because it's like the whole city
just like fireworks in the videos are unbelievable.

Speaker 6 (32:44):
It's crazy.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
I would highly recommend looking them up online.

Speaker 6 (32:48):
What are you doing tonight?

Speaker 4 (32:50):
I'm I think probably gonna pack because I have vacation.

Speaker 3 (32:54):
I forget you had Friday after the show, so.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
I'll be all social media. So brate me all you want. People,
I don't care, I don't see them.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
I will block.

Speaker 4 (33:02):
I block indiscriminately. I don't care if you're gonna f
bomb me online, I'm just gonna block.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
I don't need that.

Speaker 4 (33:06):
I don't need to go on my phone at the
checkout at CVS or Walgreen.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
Impack and I look at it's.

Speaker 6 (33:11):
Like you've been doing great this week. We've been having fun.
Oh that was great. Fourth at July.

Speaker 5 (33:17):
Happy Birthday America, and thank you everyone who decided to
hang out and listen to us today.

Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah, and then tomorrow will prattle on. I have this
NFL idea. I haven't floated to the staff yet. I'll
send the text right after the show, because I'm always
engagement for me, right, I'm.

Speaker 6 (33:31):
Always thinking of bits.

Speaker 5 (33:33):
Jerry Seinfeld I think just recently said that everything's a bit.

Speaker 6 (33:36):
You're always thinking of what's the next beit.

Speaker 3 (33:38):
Yeah, so I should look at life.

Speaker 4 (33:40):
Awesome soccer tonight, I'll take Argentina. Tomorrow I'll take Spain
reluctantly and go England obviously. Thanks a lot. Have a great,
safe July fourth, See you tomorrow
Advertise With Us

Hosts And Creators

Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd

Jason McIntyre

Jason McIntyre

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.