June 6, 2024 • 38 mins
In this Best of The Herd, Colin tries to make sense of the Los Angeles Lakers courting UConn head coach Dan Hurley. Colin offers a warning to an attention and publicity-hungry franchise like the Lakers possibly hiring a coach who demands time to build a team in his vision. Later, Colin isn't surprised that Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark needs time to adapt to the physical play in the WNBA. Finally, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stops in to chat about bringing his team to listen to Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and how he keeps his team fresh
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh what a show we have today tonight NBA Finals
Game one in Boston, Celtics hosting the MAVs in Los Angeles.
It's the Herd wherever you may be and however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day, Jamax.
Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you're groggy.
Other times you wake up in the morning and you
get a Woes bomb. You get an Adrian Warzanowski bomb,
(00:49):
which is Dan Hurley and the Lakers are escalating discussions.
Arguably the best college basketball coach, a grinder, an East coach,
a tough guy, a fighter out the long Long Land.
What are we to make of that?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Bob? We should pump the breaks a little bit. This
is great news.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
JJ Reddick no pressure during the broadcast tonight.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
All right, so the Lakers, according to Woes. I know Woje.
I always trust Woje preparing massive offer to Yukon's Dan Hurley,
who is a regular on our show. My immediate thought
as I wake up, do wordle watch a few news
update see my wojebam. My initial thought is, eh, I
(01:34):
don't think it's a bad idea, but Dan Hurley and Lebron?
What does that mean for Lebron? My second thought is
Genie Buss, who owns the Lakers, and Rob Polenka, who
runs them. They've got to be looking at these playoffs going.
The best player in the world is Jokic. He's young,
he's out West. Second best player is Luca He's he's
out West, he's young. And then at Edward's an okay,
(01:55):
seeing we got old Lebron and brittle a D and
a bunch of men. Forget the Celtics. Two best players
are in their prime. Go look at the finals. Look
at the final four teams. Look at the West. You're
looking at Ruey and Reeves and brittle a D and Lebron,
San Antonio and Houston by next year could be really interesting.
(02:17):
The West is packed all young stars, Lakers don't have one.
How do you get one, Well, you draft them and
develop them. So Lebron's a free agent, he'll probably opt out.
But Woes this morning talking about this, even mentioned Ronnie
James being drafted to the Lakers, so he might take
(02:39):
his Browny's been given a bit of a heads up.
We'll get into more of that later. But if you're
gonna hire Dan Hurley, remember he's like Brad Stevens, who
the Celtics are. He's a slow build or a culture guy.
He's not a microwave guy. That's what Lebron and Ad want.
They want to be good now. He's a let it
bait guy. He did not. He had a losing wreck
(03:00):
at all three jobs. First year Wagner losing record Rhode
Island he was eight and twenty. First year yu Koni
had a losing record.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
He didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
He didn't want to march Madness game until that year
five at Yukon. He is a slow build guy, hard coach,
develops talent, create a culture. Lebron wants to win now.
Ad wants to win now. Lakers they want to win now.
This is a team guy. This is not a microwave guy.
I think it'd be a great, great move. You start
(03:30):
looking around this idea that you used to be able to,
you know, have three stars and a team. But they
call it the Apron, the Second Apron, the new CBA.
It's very, very hard. You're never gonna see Golden State again.
Draymond Clay, Steph KD. NBA is trying to get away
from that. They don't want that anymore. So that's why
a lot of these good teams it's a slow build.
You can add a B player, you can add a Porzingis,
(03:52):
you can add, but it's a slow build. That's what
the league wants, players staying in their city develop. So
Brad Stevens year one with the Celtics, and again that's
that's my comp although obviously Yukon is much better program
than Butler. But year one, Brad Stevens was twenty five
(04:12):
and fifty seven. It took him four years to win
the playoff series in the Cruddy East. I mean, so
if you want to go, if you want to use
that as a comp are you okay? Are you comfortable
as a Laker fan with that? I don't think the
Lakers are comfortable. I think it'd be great. But I'm
you know, I'm I'm I'm looking right now at that
(04:33):
Laker roster, the Lakers history. I've been watching this, You've
been watching this. It's very impatient New York, LA, Chicago.
These owners don't want to be in fourth place very long.
You got NFL teams red hot, Major League Baseball teams
increasingly popular, soccer teams. People are distracted in Los Angeles.
(04:55):
Are you ready for slow cooking? You know?
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Are you ready to put it on the old barbecue
pit for about six hours? Eight hours? Lakers ready for that?
I don't think they are. Dan Hurley was on our
show after we one a Natty not long ago, and
I asked him what am I to make of all
these Dan Hurley to the NBA rumors.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
It's certainly flattering. But I've got a long career of
turning down jobs or more money to stay in places
that you know that I was happy and that fit me,
and that you know, provide me the resources to at
that level achieve the things you want to achieve. You know,
(05:36):
the opportunity to go for charit for three feet right now,
it's the only thing that is obviously on anyone's minds here,
all right?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So then we pivot to this and I have so
many thoughts on why Dan Hurley to the Lakers would
be great, But I don't think the Lakers are built
for it. I think Hurley's built for it. It's like
I said about the WNBA and the media. WNBA, those
women are built for it. The media can't figure out
how to handle it. I think the Lakers couldn't handle it.
(06:07):
I think Hurley'd be fine. JJ Reddick, So what do
we make of JJ Reddick? I was just told a
week ago he was building a staff. So did he
tell the Lakers? No? Thanks? I mean, let's be honest,
JJ Reddick. A podcaster currently with Lebron becoming Lebron's coach
is like a Saturday Night Live skit. It's weird. Does
(06:30):
he break down Laker losses? I mean, w how does
that thing work? It can't possibly work the players? It
would It would could be a subversive move. You'd have
players that like come on podcast. So uh, and they
just started that business and Lebron likes his podcast business?
Did did? Did JJ Reddick leaked the story? Did the Lakers?
(06:52):
I mean did did? Honestly? Did the agent for somebody
leaked the story, so Lakers maybe leak it so they
get a better deal with JJ Reddick. A J Reddick
wants ten, Lakers want to play him six, so they
leaked the Dan Hurley story to get JJ Reddick to
settle down and take a lower contract. I mean, there's
so many, so many things don't make any sense here,
but this, I've said this for years. Stuff gets out
(07:17):
when people want it out. And remember JJ Reddick was
a week ago compiling a staff the woe story. Language matters.
They're just targeting Dan Hurley. They've had preliminary contact, not interviews.
They've just had preliminary contact with Hurley in the sides,
(07:41):
are planning to escalate discussions. That means they called his agent,
and his agent called Dan Hurley and said, would Dan
Hurley be willing to discuss this? That's what it sounds
like to me. I'm reading this thing. This is my
agent calls me and says, hey, they may call you tomorrow.
Would you take the call?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Yah?
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Sure, that's what it sounds like. So this got out
because somebody wanted it out. Did the Lakers want it out?
Because JJ Reddick starts driving up the price because JJ
Reddick knows the job is his and starts demanding stuff.
The Lakers aren't comfortable, so they leak it to bring
JJ Reddick's offer to a more realistic place. There is
(08:23):
a by the way, I want to play a byte.
This is Gino Oriema, who was in an event. He's
the Yukon women's basketball legendary coach. He was at an
event with Dan Hurley last night. This was on the
Dan Patrick Show this morning.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
I happen to be with it at a thing with
him last night, and I have no idea what's going on.
You know, I have no idea where this is going
and what's happening. But I said, just leaned over and
I said, hey, I think you can win a lot
of championships with the Lakers, you know, more so than
a guy who's never coached. And he just looked at
(08:59):
me and you know, nodded and we had a good laugh.
And then this morning I wake up and while off
so I don't know what's going on, and it'd be
a bad day for Yukon for sure. If this happens,
then it would be a great great day for Dan Hurley.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
For the record, Yukon is stacked again. So you want
to bring in Dan Hurley. With the Lakers history of
impatience and the revolving door of coaches, it's going to
be a price. I don't have a problem with Dan
Hurley or JJ Reddick. Hurley's obviously already established as one
of America's best basketball minds and coaches. He has proven
(09:38):
he's a culture builder. JJ Reddick spent more time around
the pro game, but I still contend if you look
at what Hurley does in NBA circles, Hurley is very respected.
This isn't like years ago. Remember the late Jerry Tarkanian
got a job like a guy's like tark or Bobby
Knight at the late leg jendary coaches. They were college coaches,
(10:01):
didn't feel like NBA guys. Billy Donovan at Florida felt
like an NBA guy. Wiley coach college and has done
well in the NBA. Hurley feels like he could do both.
Mike Skrzyzhevski, coached at the Olympics, feels like he could
do both. Mark Few, by the way, very good offensive coach,
not a yeller and a screamer. Mark Fusat Gonzaga, he
(10:23):
feels like if he wanted to. He could do some
NBA stuff. Some guys feel like they fit. Dan Hurley
feels like he fits. But for the record, if he
stays at Yukon, they will be one of the top
two or three teams with a great chance to threepeat.
So it's not like he's just leaving a college job.
It's like leaving Kansas if you're Bill self, like, this
is the Northeast college job in an area of the
(10:47):
country that still loves and embraces college basketball. Yukon is
the gig. So this is not just yeah, let me
sleep on it.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You got your wife's from Jersey. You have the best
college job in a loaded, Northeast, passionate part of the
country that still loves the sport. But Jay mac I
will say, sometimes I wake up and I'm like, oh wow,
that's a big story.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
It feels like a big story.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
But I got to ask you a question, Colin. When
Woes writes, Polinka and Jeanie Buss are eager to formally
discuss their vision with Hurley. They haven't even spoken yet
to a A does that? Who does that?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Who says we.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Are announcing that we are going after this coach. Why
would you do that. Why would you put that out
there so the whole league knows college basketball on the
day of the NBA Finals. What's really behind this announcement?
Isn't a smart move to hey, let's talk to him,
Let's get close, and then if it leaks, it leaks.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Who leaks before you.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Order to drive a better bargain for JJ Reddick. Maybe
they're getting down to now that is interesting on the
negotiations and they're really struggling. JJ and his agent are
ass looking for things and they're like, now, let's pump
the brakes. You've never coached. We're gonna make sure this
story is out to know that this isn't your job yet.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
And we also have to pay Darvin Ham because who
we just fired way early in his contract. So that's
a great point. Maybe that negotiations with Reddick are not
going as smoothly as everyone thinks.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It gets a little turbulent towards the end. You get
down to real money and buy out clauses.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
And Reddick's like, what, I'm gonna be here for two years,
then you're gonna fire me.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, do what everybody else.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
So your best guess is probably it's still Reddick.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
My guess this morning is Reddick is in the league.
I've been doing this thirty years. Stuff only gets out
when people want it out. That is that Tom Brady
went to Tampa. We knew five minutes before. Tom didn't
want it out. I mean, think how big that story was.
Think I think how big that if Mahomes in five
(12:52):
years was leaving all the speculation and then we found
out five minutes before. That's because Patrick Mahomes and his
family don't want to out. Somebody wants this story out.
My guess is the Lakers to drive down JJ's price.
That is my guess.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
That makes the most.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
But I'll tell you another thing, and I really thought
about this this morning. This is my favorite part of
this is kind of looking ahead and why I don't
think it works for the Lakers. And I'll this LA
plays a part in this, and I'll discuss it.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible Great Rate.
None of the Bowl Lakers are preparing a massive offer
to Yukon's Dan Hurley best college basketball coach arguably in
the sport, very clever, offensively, a slow cook coach, coach
culture development. That's what he does. That's what the NBA
is becoming now. So there's a term used in business,
(13:52):
and my best bosses ever have been good at this
called seeing around corners. Can you see problems three or
four or five years down the road before they happen.
So when it comes to Hurley and the Lakers, two
things to remember there was not an NFL team in
Los Angeles for over twenty years, and during that time,
the Lakers won titles. The Dodgers were big, but weren't
(14:14):
winning World Series titles where the Lakers were. It's a lakertown.
It's one of the only cities in America big ones
that's an NBA town. First, second, and third, and they're
used to it. The Bus family is used to dominating
the media, being the cool team in town. Second thing
is that has created something within the Lakers that they're
not comfortable not being in the news. They will not
(14:39):
stand being the fourth and fifth story. So now from that,
I want you to think about what is very possible,
very quickly in Los Angeles if you hired Dan Hurley
and started mostly a rebuild. Jim Harbaugh and Sean McVay
are two of the top four to five coaches in
the sport, and both have star quarters. The NFL eats
(15:03):
every other sport in its way alive, even in Los Angeles.
Over time. They've got the coolest stadium in the league.
Super Bowls here. Jim Harbaugh, Herbert Stafford McVeigh, and Stan
Cronke the second richest owner in the sport. They'll buy
stars again. The NFL is more beloved even in Los
Angeles than the NBA over time. Oh what about the Dodgers.
(15:28):
Mookie bets, Freddie Freeman, no salary cap. They are the
Yankees of ten years ago. Otani now is stealing the
thunder in the city and he's not even pitching yet.
He's just dhing. What if the Dodgers start repeatedly getting
into the World Series, winning occasionally, but getting to them.
(15:49):
Oh and then they're Steve ballmer Clippers owner much richer
than the Bus family, building a new arena. It'll be
the Sphere for basketball, just down the road from the Staples.
He drafts or recruits a star two. Kawhi eventually leaves
a more magnetic Dynamic Star runs the organization with tylu Oh.
(16:12):
And then there's USC entering the Big Ten, where they'll
now have home games regularly with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin,
not to mention two West Coast powers Oregon and Washington.
The coliseum should be buzzing for years to come. You
think the Lakers are going to be okay? Being thirty
(16:33):
eight and forty four in year two of the rebuild
with Dan Hurley in stores Connecticut. I lived there for
a decade. People be more patient, they root for snow.
This is Los Angeles, it's not Cincinnati. There's a lot
to do, beaches, mountains, Vegas a quick flight away. This
(16:56):
city has been nothing but successful than sports since I
arrived eight years ago. And we're just moving into the
prime years. O Tawni now a Dodger, Harbaugh and Herbert
for the next five Steve Balmer finally getting his arena
and eventually out of that ugly Kowhi contract. We're just
(17:18):
starting now. USC games no longer Washington State and Oregon State.
It's Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan. The city's about to
explode with sports, and you want to rebuild. I'm not
buying it. If I was Dan Hurley, my wife's a
(17:41):
Jersey girl, best college program, I'd ask for twelve million
a year. I mean my wife moving out of Jersey,
that's worth three. The job itself is worth four and
a half. Connecticut to La house prices, that's another three
million annually. Do the Lakers have the stomach to finally
pay massive money for a coach and rebuild at the
(18:05):
same time? Two levels of discomfort for this organization. But
just know we are on the precipice of this city exploding.
Oh Tawani pitching and hitting Dodger stack. Now you don't
have those regional TV networks, so the media, the middle
and the bottom of Major League Baseball now it's like
(18:25):
TRIPAA Baseball. It's not even in sometimes some areas competitive.
The minute somebody like a Pirates pitcher is good, he'll
be on another team very quickly. So just are you
ready for that? You're ready for the slow slow cook,
the slow build as the rest of the city is exploding.
In sports, I don't think they are.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non a em Pacific.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
Hey Gang, This is Jay Glazer, host of Unbreakable, a
Mental Wealth podcast, and every week we will have on
leader from sports entertainment like.
Speaker 8 (19:04):
Sean McVay, Lindsay Vaughn, Michael Phelf, David Spade, Got Fiemmy,
and also those who can help us in between the ears,
anyone from a therapist to someone like Ed Milett for
John Gordon. We've all been through some sort of adversity
to get to the top.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
We've all used different tools. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay
Glazer and Mental Wealth podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get podcasts.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Soccer takes center stages June as Pulisic, McKinney and the
USA seek their first ever Copa America title along with
the Euros. It's all part of a huge summer of
soccer featuring the world's biggest stars starting June fourteenth on.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Fox All Right, John Fanta, Fox Sports college basketball reporter
says that Dan Hurley, the Yukon coach, informed his players
he is in talk with the Lakers. Dan Hurley did
not hide the fact he his agent are talking to
the Lakers. It's real. Huskies have a noon practice. Hurley
(20:09):
told his players is business as usual for now, but
the Lakers did call. He and his agent are in discussions.
So the woes baumb is as usual accurate Dan Hurley
in real discussions. I think it's a smart move. I
don't think the Lakers have the stomach for a rebuild.
I do think the Lakers have probably told Lebron James,
(20:33):
they gave him a little bit of heads up, this
is one of our decisions. There's a story out that
Lebron told Genie Buss and Rob Polenka, whoever you hire,
hire somebody for the next ten years, not for the
next one or two, that I would be here. So
that's the story being reported today that Lebron said, Hey,
just whoever you're going to hire, build a big brand,
(20:55):
Get the right guy. Don't make it a one or
a two year thing. So, which is what the Lakers said,
been prone to do. Put a band aid on a
flesh wound and it just doesn't work. So you'd have
to pay herly a fortune to leave. You'd have to
make a big, long commitment. I think he's a great coach.
I think it would work. It's a family of basketball geniuses.
(21:15):
But are the Lakers willing to take a step back
because Lebron's got one or two years left AD. You know,
you can build around him, but he's not leading you
to a title. He is a number two. That's his personality,
that's his game. Offensively, he can be sort of hit
and miss. So there you go. I thought this was interesting.
Watching the WNBA and Caitlin Clark story is fascinating. The
(21:37):
best women's basketball coach Gino Oriema said he thinks Caitlin
Clark is being targeted now. So he said targeted. He
used that word. So let me just ask all you
media and fans that think she's being targeted, what did
you expect that she would be given a layup drill?
Wildly popular college player from Iowa oins the WNBA and
(22:02):
now is its richest player before she plays a game.
What did you think she wasn't gonna be tested? Diana
Tarassi told us this was what's gonna happen. She said
she's gonna struggle in year one. And the reason Diana
Tarassi is a good comp is Diana Tarossi's about the
same size and she said she canna get It's gonna
(22:25):
be rough for her. I'm gonna push her around. It's
a physical lead. So just from a basketball perspective, what
Caitlin Clark is going through is understandable. Forget all the
emotional stuff. She's six feet and one hundred and fifty pounds.
When Steph Curry came into the NBA out of Davidson,
he was like six two and a half one seventy two.
(22:46):
He got pushed around. You know what Steph Curry is
now six two and a half one ninety eight. Curry
came in rail finily like a high schooler. Now he's cut.
That's the reality of going to a pro locker room,
pro nutritionalists. Nothing against the IOWA you know, lunch table,
but this is this is the pros. This is what
(23:07):
quarterbacks look like. This is what athletes look like when
they get I just drove by the Laker facility yesterday.
It is it is beautiful. They've got rows and rows
of things. These guys don't want for anything. It's not college.
So yes, a fairly slight player, you know, six feet
(23:29):
one hundred and fifty probably has to get to about
one fifty seven, has to put on weight, has to
get used to it. She's only thirty shooting thirty eight
percent from the floor. Also, the WNBA front loaded her schedule,
so you would expect she'd get beat up a little
bit and be tired. I saw her in an interview
two days ago. She didn't have the same energy. She
sounded tired. And the other thing you have to remember.
(23:52):
In the NBA, you get drafted in June, you don't
play till October. In the WNBA, you get drafted, they
hand you a jersey, they blow the whistle, and you
have to play. She's been playing NonStop. She doesn't get
a break. So this league is not great for rookies,
especially stars who walk in and make double what every
(24:12):
other player does, triple, quadruple. Because of endorsements. This was
all completely predictable. If Steph Curry didn't play at Davidson,
had ended up in the championship game, and let's say
played at Kansas, he'd be much more of a target
because if he played at Kansas, he'd come in with
a shoe deal. He came from Davidson, he didn't have one.
(24:34):
The only notable thing about Curry's feet early is he
had a bad ankle. Wasn't about shoe deal. She's coming
in with a shoe deal. She's coming in kind of slight.
So this is all just the basketball stuff. It's totally predictable.
Diana Tarassi, great player, said it's gonna be rough. Yes,
she's shooting thirty eight percent. Next year, my guess she'll
(24:56):
have her sea legs under better foundation. She'll shoot in
the mid. I mean, she's averaging sixteen five and six
and a half. Good player. Those will all perk up.
But this is it's just just don't take If we're
gonna use Steph Curry as a camp, then use Steph
Curry as a camp. If Steph would have come out
(25:16):
as a higher profile guy and that skinny it had
been on the floor constantly. So that's just the reality
of it. She's getting. She is dealing with what you
deal with for her size in a pro league. Here
was Gino this week on her being a target.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Is she facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that
are inherent with being a rookie. Yes, she's also being targeted.
And I don't remember when when Jordan came into the league,
Guys looking to go out and beat him up. I
don't remember when Bird and Magic came in the League
and elevated the NBA. I don't remember them getting targeted
(25:55):
and getting beat up just because of who they were
and the intention were.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
But it's different. Jordan did get beat up about year
three when he became a threat to the Pistons and Celtics.
She's not a threat to win the title. Either was
Jordan when he got to that dysfunctional Bulls team. But
the minute Jordan became a threat he was the most
gifted player and a threat to now win the titles,
(26:21):
he started getting tackled.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Jordan rules.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
So she's not a threat to win, but she is
a star in a league that's never had one. The
NBA had had it stars. Bird was there and Magic
and Doctor j and Wilton. NBA had it stars. They
weren't starved for stars. That's not with NBA's always had stars.
WNBA has never had a star. So if you're the catalyst,
(26:45):
if you're the star. There was some Tiger Woods animosity.
I mean, nobody was throwing clubs at him, but there
was a lot of stuff. Some of it there were
racial overtones. I can remember multiple golfers saying kind of
inappropriate things. Everybody was a little chippy with Tiger and
two till everybody realized, hey, these purses are going up.
Tiger's making all of this money. But there was pushback
(27:07):
on Tiger initially before he started dominating and driving the
purses for all the tournaments up. Cole Hamil's Remember when
he threw at Bryce Harper?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Remember that?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Remember Bryce Harper, the chosen one out of high school.
Cole hamilstone at it.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
One more heard The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
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Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, the downside for any manager in any sport to
having a loaded roster is expectations. Then you throw in
the Dodgers brand the Los Angeles market. Nine seasons as
the Dodger manager, they are in first place again, second
best record in the National League. They're wrapping up a
series with the Pirates. I watched it yesterday, Dave Roberts
(27:54):
joining us.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
By the way, you.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Are in Pittsburgh, and then you took your staff, I
guess to watch Mike Tomlin. So what was your thinking
on that? What did you want your staff to see
with coach Tomlin?
Speaker 6 (28:10):
So, I you know, our director of player Performance, Brandon
McDaniel set it up with Mark Brunner, former Steeler and
a friend of both of ours, and so it took
a few members of the staff, and you know, it's
voluntary workouts. So each day coach Tomlin addresses the guys.
So today was about the exclamation point and finishing plays
(28:32):
and doing things the right way, and so it was
applicable to everybody on a football field, but also obviously
in life in baseball. So, like I told you before
we aired, right now, Colin, I was like ready to
run through a wall for this man. And he's done
it for so long and one so consistently. But to
have that energy every day every year is for me,
(28:53):
it's fascinating.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Well, there are obviously ten times as many baseball games,
so when you have star it's tougher to to. I
saw there was a moment about a week ago when
you had great compassion on the mound for one of
your pitchers. Baseball is a different sensibility. You can bark occasionally,
but how often over the course of a season. You've
(29:15):
got smart veteran players, They've been around, they know the culture.
How often, Dave, do you have to ramp it up
and occasionally bark with that team you're managing.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
You know, not very often. I think I'm more of
the guy that likes to have that one off conversation.
I think that sometimes I feel, you know, given that
we play every single day, you know, when you sort
of set the stage for yourself to have a team
meeting or be visibly vocal, you sometimes make it about yourself.
(29:49):
And I always want to make it about the players,
about the game. And so I certainly get my point across,
maybe not to the liking of some people that want
to see reactions. And I'm wearing aiform, but I'm not
timy Lesorda. But I think also, you know, with football,
it's once a week, and football you can play with
the motion. Yeah, but I would argue that with baseball,
(30:11):
the tempered mindset is better, more beneficial.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
You know, Dave, you already lead by seven. You don't
even have a couple of your top pitchers, Bobby Miller,
Clayton Kershaw. You could probably hit your way to a
division crown, but obviously to be successful in the postseason
you need a full staff. Baseball is such a sport
of routine, Dave. Let's say hypothetically you get a ten
(30:36):
a twelve game lead later, you would love to have
a fresh team in the playoffs, But again, Mookie Bets
wants to play, Botani wants to play. How do you
weigh keeping a team fresh? I mean, between spring training
and the regular season. Dave, you've got two hundred games.
You want a fresh team, but you got stars, competitive
(30:58):
guys that want to go out there. The standings for
you late in the season. Will you monitor those and think?
I know my guys like routine, but I'm gonna give
some of these guys days off.
Speaker 6 (31:11):
You know. I love that you bring that up, because
the thing that's great about that is there's no right answer.
I think for me, my default always is players want
to play. Players are competitors. They signed up to play.
But I will say that given the win loss, the
record and the standings does and should dictate to some
(31:32):
point as far as workload and also give another guy's
opportunity and that's a lot of it on the pitching
side too, to protect those guys. But the fact of
the matter is that I just don't believe you can
bubble wrap guys and put them in the postseason and
then then to go out there and perform optimally. You know,
baseball is played by humans and so, and you have
(31:55):
to kind of play to keep that edge.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Yeah, but Mookie bet, you know, Tani is gonna get
kershan O'tani are always gonna get with the Dodgers, They're
gonna get a lot of play here, Mookie Bets doesn't
even make sense. The idea that you could just say, hey,
we're going movie to the infield. You wouldn't take a
running back and say you're gonna be slot corner, were you?
(32:18):
I mean, it's just it doesn't you don't see it.
I mean, it's one thing for a rod to go
from short to third. That's a transition, the Mookie transition position.
Was it tough? Was it restless?
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Did you?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
What did you make of it as you were talking
about it happening.
Speaker 6 (32:37):
I mean, I'm telling you right now, sitting here, right now,
seeing Mookie best play short stuff, I would have never,
in my wildest dreams thought that could happen. It was
a possibility. One in the fact that I just don't
see superstars making themselves so vulnerable right to a position
change that drastic and opening themselves up for criticism and
(32:58):
number two is just the performance and it's so demanding.
And I've said it before though, is that I just
don't think that there's one player in baseball that I
think could have made this transition.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Now, he's just he's historically unique. He's just a great athlete.
And look at this catch we're showing, right, He's just insane.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
He really is. Calling he is. And also the thing is,
though he's a great athlete, but he's I just love
the humility too. You know. It's one of those things
where you get a superstar player that he doesn't realize
how impactful he is. And I think that that's that's
charming for me as a manager, in the sense of
that humility and people gravitate towards him. And I was
(33:38):
talking the other day and it's just, you know, he
just loves the work, loves the grind, and you know
when you get a superstar that just loves practice, and
just like I remember Kobe. I was at Kobe's last
game and he just says, the dream is the journey,
and from Moki in particular, you know, the journey of
working and practicing, that's the dream and he lives it every.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Day, you know, Dave, there's a argument. I said this
two years ago. People compare Otani and Babe Ruth, and
I'm like, well, the Otani's better. He's playing against better players.
The game's global. Otani is remarkable in a million levels.
He looks like a movie star. He seems like the
nicest kid in the world. I think dhing is much
(34:21):
harder than people think. You go from ice cold to
merging onto freeway traffic. It's like, it's hard. Is there
moments in all your years of baseball and you've played
on that Red Sox team World Series, all the players
you've managed and seen. I remember a friend telling me
he played minor league baseball with Ken Griffy, and he
said by the third swing, he was like, oh, I
(34:44):
knew this guy. The ball off Ken Griffy's bat in
the miners didn't sound like all of ours. What did
you initially see with Otani as a Dodger. I'm not
talking angels that you just was jaw dropping? Does he
do that to you daily?
Speaker 6 (35:02):
He does? He does, And I didn't like you. We
didn't see Babe Ruth. But I'll take Otany all day long.
Given you know how difficult the game is. The specializations
of it, and you know the foot speed, but yeah,
you know, I think for me just the physicality. You know,
when you get up on show, hey, he's a lot
bigger than you think. It's like Clayton Kershaw where you
see him on the Mounta and you see him he's baggy.
(35:23):
He got baggy pants on. But when you get up
on him, he is very physical and show hey, he's
the same way. He's got broad shoulders, thin waist, not
an ounce of fat on him. And I just when
I see him from the sidelines, you know, from the dugout,
just to watch him chew up ground when he's you know,
legging out a triple or gotting down gaining ninety feet
down the line for an infield hit. And then you
(35:44):
look at the sheer raw power. So just everything he
does is just he's the best on the field at
every every asset of the game. It's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Okay, you go into a three game series with the Yankees,
obviously there's advanced scouting. You'll be handed that today or
tomorrow before I imagine it is pitch around Aaron Judge.
I don't know what the advanced scouting says with the Yankees.
But you're the Yankees of the National League. Have you
gotten a glimpse of them? They are they lead an
e r They're a power team. They throw it hard.
(36:16):
They're a powered team. Have you gotten any look ahead
on the advanced scouting on the Yankees? And what do
you see or hear?
Speaker 6 (36:24):
I haven't, you know, I've watched a lot of probably
what you've watched with fans watch. I haven't really dug
into him yet. I'll do that tonight. We got them tomorrow,
we got them this weekend. But yeah, Judges obviously having
a Judge esque type MVP season, and I think Soto
has just been a game changer. I think that that
kind of edginess, the controlling of the strike zone, the
(36:44):
getting on base, the grinding at bat at bats, I
was playing great defense. I think that's been transformative. You know,
we've known Alex Verdugo for quite some time, and and
obviously this is gonna be a great series. You know,
I think that the East West Coast Rivaly DoD Yankees,
you know, all this world series back in the past.
I think it's gonna be on the national stage. I
(37:05):
think it's great for baseball. And you also mentioned shohe
O Tani, and he's a guy, the one guy that
really can move the needle in baseball. And so I
think it's a lot of eyes are gonna be watching us.
It's gonna be a fun series. And there's some guys
from us for US that have never been to even
New Yankee Stadium, so this is a real treat.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Finally, I watched Paul Scheme yesterday. He throws the ball
pretty hard. But now in baseball, now, everybody when I
was a kid, Don Gulla of the Reds through ninety
five and he was a flamethrower, everybody throws ninety six.
Now it's just insane how hard they throw. What did
you make of him yesterday?
Speaker 6 (37:43):
It was impressive, And like you said, I mean there
was one hundred and one, one hundred and two, and
Shapman comes in and touches one hundred and four three times.
And it's like, I joke with these guys all the
time that I got out of this game well in advance,
before the game got too hard. So I marvel how
these guys can time a bullet. But skeins Man just
a year out of college. I remember watching him in
(38:05):
the World Series and to see the seamless transition he's
made against the world's best, it's pretty remarkable. It's four
pitches command, he has an idea what he's trying to do, so,
you know, I was happy that we got him out
after five. That was a you know, a win in itself.
And they got another young kid to do against us
the first night, Jared Jones, kid from California, who was
(38:26):
just as good in my opinion. So the Pirates, they're
well equipped for the coming years as far as arms.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Hey, davere one of the good guys. Continued success. We'll
be watching this weekend. Thanks for taking ten minutes and
I appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (38:38):
I appreciate you any time.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Con
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh what a show we have today tonight NBA Finals
Game one in Boston, Celtics hosting the MAVs in Los Angeles.
It's the Herd wherever you may be and however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day, Jamax.
Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you're groggy.
Other times you wake up in the morning and you
get a Woes bomb. You get an Adrian Warzanowski bomb,
(00:49):
which is Dan Hurley and the Lakers are escalating discussions.
Arguably the best college basketball coach, a grinder, an East coach,
a tough guy, a fighter out the long Long Land.
What are we to make of that?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Bob? We should pump the breaks a little bit. This
is great news.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
JJ Reddick no pressure during the broadcast tonight.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
All right, so the Lakers, according to Woes. I know Woje.
I always trust Woje preparing massive offer to Yukon's Dan Hurley,
who is a regular on our show. My immediate thought
as I wake up, do wordle watch a few news
update see my wojebam. My initial thought is, eh, I
(01:34):
don't think it's a bad idea, but Dan Hurley and Lebron?
What does that mean for Lebron? My second thought is
Genie Buss, who owns the Lakers, and Rob Polenka, who
runs them. They've got to be looking at these playoffs going.
The best player in the world is Jokic. He's young,
he's out West. Second best player is Luca He's he's
out West, he's young. And then at Edward's an okay,
(01:55):
seeing we got old Lebron and brittle a D and
a bunch of men. Forget the Celtics. Two best players
are in their prime. Go look at the finals. Look
at the final four teams. Look at the West. You're
looking at Ruey and Reeves and brittle a D and Lebron,
San Antonio and Houston by next year could be really interesting.
(02:17):
The West is packed all young stars, Lakers don't have one.
How do you get one, Well, you draft them and
develop them. So Lebron's a free agent, he'll probably opt out.
But Woes this morning talking about this, even mentioned Ronnie
James being drafted to the Lakers, so he might take
(02:39):
his Browny's been given a bit of a heads up.
We'll get into more of that later. But if you're
gonna hire Dan Hurley, remember he's like Brad Stevens, who
the Celtics are. He's a slow build or a culture guy.
He's not a microwave guy. That's what Lebron and Ad want.
They want to be good now. He's a let it
bait guy. He did not. He had a losing wreck
(03:00):
at all three jobs. First year Wagner losing record Rhode
Island he was eight and twenty. First year yu Koni
had a losing record.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
He didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
He didn't want to march Madness game until that year
five at Yukon. He is a slow build guy, hard coach,
develops talent, create a culture. Lebron wants to win now.
Ad wants to win now. Lakers they want to win now.
This is a team guy. This is not a microwave guy.
I think it'd be a great, great move. You start
(03:30):
looking around this idea that you used to be able to,
you know, have three stars and a team. But they
call it the Apron, the Second Apron, the new CBA.
It's very, very hard. You're never gonna see Golden State again.
Draymond Clay, Steph KD. NBA is trying to get away
from that. They don't want that anymore. So that's why
a lot of these good teams it's a slow build.
You can add a B player, you can add a Porzingis,
(03:52):
you can add, but it's a slow build. That's what
the league wants, players staying in their city develop. So
Brad Stevens year one with the Celtics, and again that's
that's my comp although obviously Yukon is much better program
than Butler. But year one, Brad Stevens was twenty five
(04:12):
and fifty seven. It took him four years to win
the playoff series in the Cruddy East. I mean, so
if you want to go, if you want to use
that as a comp are you okay? Are you comfortable
as a Laker fan with that? I don't think the
Lakers are comfortable. I think it'd be great. But I'm
you know, I'm I'm I'm looking right now at that
(04:33):
Laker roster, the Lakers history. I've been watching this, You've
been watching this. It's very impatient New York, LA, Chicago.
These owners don't want to be in fourth place very long.
You got NFL teams red hot, Major League Baseball teams
increasingly popular, soccer teams. People are distracted in Los Angeles.
(04:55):
Are you ready for slow cooking? You know?
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Are you ready to put it on the old barbecue
pit for about six hours? Eight hours? Lakers ready for that?
I don't think they are. Dan Hurley was on our
show after we one a Natty not long ago, and
I asked him what am I to make of all
these Dan Hurley to the NBA rumors.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
It's certainly flattering. But I've got a long career of
turning down jobs or more money to stay in places
that you know that I was happy and that fit me,
and that you know, provide me the resources to at
that level achieve the things you want to achieve. You know,
(05:36):
the opportunity to go for charit for three feet right now,
it's the only thing that is obviously on anyone's minds here,
all right?
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So then we pivot to this and I have so
many thoughts on why Dan Hurley to the Lakers would
be great, But I don't think the Lakers are built
for it. I think Hurley's built for it. It's like
I said about the WNBA and the media. WNBA, those
women are built for it. The media can't figure out
how to handle it. I think the Lakers couldn't handle it.
(06:07):
I think Hurley'd be fine. JJ Reddick, So what do
we make of JJ Reddick? I was just told a
week ago he was building a staff. So did he
tell the Lakers? No? Thanks? I mean, let's be honest,
JJ Reddick. A podcaster currently with Lebron becoming Lebron's coach
is like a Saturday Night Live skit. It's weird. Does
(06:30):
he break down Laker losses? I mean, w how does
that thing work? It can't possibly work the players? It
would It would could be a subversive move. You'd have
players that like come on podcast. So uh, and they
just started that business and Lebron likes his podcast business?
Did did? Did JJ Reddick leaked the story? Did the Lakers?
(06:52):
I mean did did? Honestly? Did the agent for somebody
leaked the story, so Lakers maybe leak it so they
get a better deal with JJ Reddick. A J Reddick
wants ten, Lakers want to play him six, so they
leaked the Dan Hurley story to get JJ Reddick to
settle down and take a lower contract. I mean, there's
so many, so many things don't make any sense here,
but this, I've said this for years. Stuff gets out
(07:17):
when people want it out. And remember JJ Reddick was
a week ago compiling a staff the woe story. Language matters.
They're just targeting Dan Hurley. They've had preliminary contact, not interviews.
They've just had preliminary contact with Hurley in the sides,
(07:41):
are planning to escalate discussions. That means they called his agent,
and his agent called Dan Hurley and said, would Dan
Hurley be willing to discuss this? That's what it sounds
like to me. I'm reading this thing. This is my
agent calls me and says, hey, they may call you tomorrow.
Would you take the call?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Yah?
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Sure, that's what it sounds like. So this got out
because somebody wanted it out. Did the Lakers want it out?
Because JJ Reddick starts driving up the price because JJ
Reddick knows the job is his and starts demanding stuff.
The Lakers aren't comfortable, so they leak it to bring
JJ Reddick's offer to a more realistic place. There is
(08:23):
a by the way, I want to play a byte.
This is Gino Oriema, who was in an event. He's
the Yukon women's basketball legendary coach. He was at an
event with Dan Hurley last night. This was on the
Dan Patrick Show this morning.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
I happen to be with it at a thing with
him last night, and I have no idea what's going on.
You know, I have no idea where this is going
and what's happening. But I said, just leaned over and
I said, hey, I think you can win a lot
of championships with the Lakers, you know, more so than
a guy who's never coached. And he just looked at
(08:59):
me and you know, nodded and we had a good laugh.
And then this morning I wake up and while off
so I don't know what's going on, and it'd be
a bad day for Yukon for sure. If this happens,
then it would be a great great day for Dan Hurley.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
For the record, Yukon is stacked again. So you want
to bring in Dan Hurley. With the Lakers history of
impatience and the revolving door of coaches, it's going to
be a price. I don't have a problem with Dan
Hurley or JJ Reddick. Hurley's obviously already established as one
of America's best basketball minds and coaches. He has proven
(09:38):
he's a culture builder. JJ Reddick spent more time around
the pro game, but I still contend if you look
at what Hurley does in NBA circles, Hurley is very respected.
This isn't like years ago. Remember the late Jerry Tarkanian
got a job like a guy's like tark or Bobby
Knight at the late leg jendary coaches. They were college coaches,
(10:01):
didn't feel like NBA guys. Billy Donovan at Florida felt
like an NBA guy. Wiley coach college and has done
well in the NBA. Hurley feels like he could do both.
Mike Skrzyzhevski, coached at the Olympics, feels like he could
do both. Mark Few, by the way, very good offensive coach,
not a yeller and a screamer. Mark Fusat Gonzaga, he
(10:23):
feels like if he wanted to. He could do some
NBA stuff. Some guys feel like they fit. Dan Hurley
feels like he fits. But for the record, if he
stays at Yukon, they will be one of the top
two or three teams with a great chance to threepeat.
So it's not like he's just leaving a college job.
It's like leaving Kansas if you're Bill self, like, this
is the Northeast college job in an area of the
(10:47):
country that still loves and embraces college basketball. Yukon is
the gig. So this is not just yeah, let me
sleep on it.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You got your wife's from Jersey. You have the best
college job in a loaded, Northeast, passionate part of the
country that still loves the sport. But Jay mac I
will say, sometimes I wake up and I'm like, oh wow,
that's a big story.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
It feels like a big story.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
But I got to ask you a question, Colin. When
Woes writes, Polinka and Jeanie Buss are eager to formally
discuss their vision with Hurley. They haven't even spoken yet
to a A does that? Who does that?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Who says we.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Are announcing that we are going after this coach. Why
would you do that. Why would you put that out
there so the whole league knows college basketball on the
day of the NBA Finals. What's really behind this announcement?
Isn't a smart move to hey, let's talk to him,
Let's get close, and then if it leaks, it leaks.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Who leaks before you.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Order to drive a better bargain for JJ Reddick. Maybe
they're getting down to now that is interesting on the
negotiations and they're really struggling. JJ and his agent are
ass looking for things and they're like, now, let's pump
the brakes. You've never coached. We're gonna make sure this
story is out to know that this isn't your job yet.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
And we also have to pay Darvin Ham because who
we just fired way early in his contract. So that's
a great point. Maybe that negotiations with Reddick are not
going as smoothly as everyone thinks.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It gets a little turbulent towards the end. You get
down to real money and buy out clauses.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
And Reddick's like, what, I'm gonna be here for two years,
then you're gonna fire me.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, do what everybody else.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
So your best guess is probably it's still Reddick.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
My guess this morning is Reddick is in the league.
I've been doing this thirty years. Stuff only gets out
when people want it out. That is that Tom Brady
went to Tampa. We knew five minutes before. Tom didn't
want it out. I mean, think how big that story was.
Think I think how big that if Mahomes in five
(12:52):
years was leaving all the speculation and then we found
out five minutes before. That's because Patrick Mahomes and his
family don't want to out. Somebody wants this story out.
My guess is the Lakers to drive down JJ's price.
That is my guess.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
That makes the most.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
But I'll tell you another thing, and I really thought
about this this morning. This is my favorite part of
this is kind of looking ahead and why I don't
think it works for the Lakers. And I'll this LA
plays a part in this, and I'll discuss it.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible Great Rate.
None of the Bowl Lakers are preparing a massive offer
to Yukon's Dan Hurley best college basketball coach arguably in
the sport, very clever, offensively, a slow cook coach, coach
culture development. That's what he does. That's what the NBA
is becoming now. So there's a term used in business,
(13:52):
and my best bosses ever have been good at this
called seeing around corners. Can you see problems three or
four or five years down the road before they happen.
So when it comes to Hurley and the Lakers, two
things to remember there was not an NFL team in
Los Angeles for over twenty years, and during that time,
the Lakers won titles. The Dodgers were big, but weren't
(14:14):
winning World Series titles where the Lakers were. It's a lakertown.
It's one of the only cities in America big ones
that's an NBA town. First, second, and third, and they're
used to it. The Bus family is used to dominating
the media, being the cool team in town. Second thing
is that has created something within the Lakers that they're
not comfortable not being in the news. They will not
(14:39):
stand being the fourth and fifth story. So now from that,
I want you to think about what is very possible,
very quickly in Los Angeles if you hired Dan Hurley
and started mostly a rebuild. Jim Harbaugh and Sean McVay
are two of the top four to five coaches in
the sport, and both have star quarters. The NFL eats
(15:03):
every other sport in its way alive, even in Los Angeles.
Over time. They've got the coolest stadium in the league.
Super Bowls here. Jim Harbaugh, Herbert Stafford McVeigh, and Stan
Cronke the second richest owner in the sport. They'll buy
stars again. The NFL is more beloved even in Los
Angeles than the NBA over time. Oh what about the Dodgers.
(15:28):
Mookie bets, Freddie Freeman, no salary cap. They are the
Yankees of ten years ago. Otani now is stealing the
thunder in the city and he's not even pitching yet.
He's just dhing. What if the Dodgers start repeatedly getting
into the World Series, winning occasionally, but getting to them.
(15:49):
Oh and then they're Steve ballmer Clippers owner much richer
than the Bus family, building a new arena. It'll be
the Sphere for basketball, just down the road from the Staples.
He drafts or recruits a star two. Kawhi eventually leaves
a more magnetic Dynamic Star runs the organization with tylu Oh.
(16:12):
And then there's USC entering the Big Ten, where they'll
now have home games regularly with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin,
not to mention two West Coast powers Oregon and Washington.
The coliseum should be buzzing for years to come. You
think the Lakers are going to be okay? Being thirty
(16:33):
eight and forty four in year two of the rebuild
with Dan Hurley in stores Connecticut. I lived there for
a decade. People be more patient, they root for snow.
This is Los Angeles, it's not Cincinnati. There's a lot
to do, beaches, mountains, Vegas a quick flight away. This
(16:56):
city has been nothing but successful than sports since I
arrived eight years ago. And we're just moving into the
prime years. O Tawni now a Dodger, Harbaugh and Herbert
for the next five Steve Balmer finally getting his arena
and eventually out of that ugly Kowhi contract. We're just
(17:18):
starting now. USC games no longer Washington State and Oregon State.
It's Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan. The city's about to
explode with sports, and you want to rebuild. I'm not
buying it. If I was Dan Hurley, my wife's a
(17:41):
Jersey girl, best college program, I'd ask for twelve million
a year. I mean my wife moving out of Jersey,
that's worth three. The job itself is worth four and
a half. Connecticut to La house prices, that's another three
million annually. Do the Lakers have the stomach to finally
pay massive money for a coach and rebuild at the
(18:05):
same time? Two levels of discomfort for this organization. But
just know we are on the precipice of this city exploding.
Oh Tawani pitching and hitting Dodger stack. Now you don't
have those regional TV networks, so the media, the middle
and the bottom of Major League Baseball now it's like
(18:25):
TRIPAA Baseball. It's not even in sometimes some areas competitive.
The minute somebody like a Pirates pitcher is good, he'll
be on another team very quickly. So just are you
ready for that? You're ready for the slow slow cook,
the slow build as the rest of the city is exploding.
In sports, I don't think they are.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non a em Pacific.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
Hey Gang, This is Jay Glazer, host of Unbreakable, a
Mental Wealth podcast, and every week we will have on
leader from sports entertainment like.
Speaker 8 (19:04):
Sean McVay, Lindsay Vaughn, Michael Phelf, David Spade, Got Fiemmy,
and also those who can help us in between the ears,
anyone from a therapist to someone like Ed Milett for
John Gordon. We've all been through some sort of adversity
to get to the top.
Speaker 7 (19:17):
We've all used different tools. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay
Glazer and Mental Wealth podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get podcasts.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Soccer takes center stages June as Pulisic, McKinney and the
USA seek their first ever Copa America title along with
the Euros. It's all part of a huge summer of
soccer featuring the world's biggest stars starting June fourteenth on.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Fox All Right, John Fanta, Fox Sports college basketball reporter
says that Dan Hurley, the Yukon coach, informed his players
he is in talk with the Lakers. Dan Hurley did
not hide the fact he his agent are talking to
the Lakers. It's real. Huskies have a noon practice. Hurley
(20:09):
told his players is business as usual for now, but
the Lakers did call. He and his agent are in discussions.
So the woes baumb is as usual accurate Dan Hurley
in real discussions. I think it's a smart move. I
don't think the Lakers have the stomach for a rebuild.
I do think the Lakers have probably told Lebron James,
(20:33):
they gave him a little bit of heads up, this
is one of our decisions. There's a story out that
Lebron told Genie Buss and Rob Polenka, whoever you hire,
hire somebody for the next ten years, not for the
next one or two, that I would be here. So
that's the story being reported today that Lebron said, Hey,
just whoever you're going to hire, build a big brand,
(20:55):
Get the right guy. Don't make it a one or
a two year thing. So, which is what the Lakers said,
been prone to do. Put a band aid on a
flesh wound and it just doesn't work. So you'd have
to pay herly a fortune to leave. You'd have to
make a big, long commitment. I think he's a great coach.
I think it would work. It's a family of basketball geniuses.
(21:15):
But are the Lakers willing to take a step back
because Lebron's got one or two years left AD. You know,
you can build around him, but he's not leading you
to a title. He is a number two. That's his personality,
that's his game. Offensively, he can be sort of hit
and miss. So there you go. I thought this was interesting.
Watching the WNBA and Caitlin Clark story is fascinating. The
(21:37):
best women's basketball coach Gino Oriema said he thinks Caitlin
Clark is being targeted now. So he said targeted. He
used that word. So let me just ask all you
media and fans that think she's being targeted, what did
you expect that she would be given a layup drill?
Wildly popular college player from Iowa oins the WNBA and
(22:02):
now is its richest player before she plays a game.
What did you think she wasn't gonna be tested? Diana
Tarassi told us this was what's gonna happen. She said
she's gonna struggle in year one. And the reason Diana
Tarassi is a good comp is Diana Tarossi's about the
same size and she said she canna get It's gonna
(22:25):
be rough for her. I'm gonna push her around. It's
a physical lead. So just from a basketball perspective, what
Caitlin Clark is going through is understandable. Forget all the
emotional stuff. She's six feet and one hundred and fifty pounds.
When Steph Curry came into the NBA out of Davidson,
he was like six two and a half one seventy two.
(22:46):
He got pushed around. You know what Steph Curry is
now six two and a half one ninety eight. Curry
came in rail finily like a high schooler. Now he's cut.
That's the reality of going to a pro locker room,
pro nutritionalists. Nothing against the IOWA you know, lunch table,
but this is this is the pros. This is what
(23:07):
quarterbacks look like. This is what athletes look like when
they get I just drove by the Laker facility yesterday.
It is it is beautiful. They've got rows and rows
of things. These guys don't want for anything. It's not college.
So yes, a fairly slight player, you know, six feet
(23:29):
one hundred and fifty probably has to get to about
one fifty seven, has to put on weight, has to
get used to it. She's only thirty shooting thirty eight
percent from the floor. Also, the WNBA front loaded her schedule,
so you would expect she'd get beat up a little
bit and be tired. I saw her in an interview
two days ago. She didn't have the same energy. She
sounded tired. And the other thing you have to remember.
(23:52):
In the NBA, you get drafted in June, you don't
play till October. In the WNBA, you get drafted, they
hand you a jersey, they blow the whistle, and you
have to play. She's been playing NonStop. She doesn't get
a break. So this league is not great for rookies,
especially stars who walk in and make double what every
(24:12):
other player does, triple, quadruple. Because of endorsements. This was
all completely predictable. If Steph Curry didn't play at Davidson,
had ended up in the championship game, and let's say
played at Kansas, he'd be much more of a target
because if he played at Kansas, he'd come in with
a shoe deal. He came from Davidson, he didn't have one.
(24:34):
The only notable thing about Curry's feet early is he
had a bad ankle. Wasn't about shoe deal. She's coming
in with a shoe deal. She's coming in kind of slight.
So this is all just the basketball stuff. It's totally predictable.
Diana Tarassi, great player, said it's gonna be rough. Yes,
she's shooting thirty eight percent. Next year, my guess she'll
(24:56):
have her sea legs under better foundation. She'll shoot in
the mid. I mean, she's averaging sixteen five and six
and a half. Good player. Those will all perk up.
But this is it's just just don't take If we're
gonna use Steph Curry as a camp, then use Steph
Curry as a camp. If Steph would have come out
(25:16):
as a higher profile guy and that skinny it had
been on the floor constantly. So that's just the reality
of it. She's getting. She is dealing with what you
deal with for her size in a pro league. Here
was Gino this week on her being a target.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Is she facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that
are inherent with being a rookie. Yes, she's also being targeted.
And I don't remember when when Jordan came into the league,
Guys looking to go out and beat him up. I
don't remember when Bird and Magic came in the League
and elevated the NBA. I don't remember them getting targeted
(25:55):
and getting beat up just because of who they were
and the intention were.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
But it's different. Jordan did get beat up about year
three when he became a threat to the Pistons and Celtics.
She's not a threat to win the title. Either was
Jordan when he got to that dysfunctional Bulls team. But
the minute Jordan became a threat he was the most
gifted player and a threat to now win the titles,
(26:21):
he started getting tackled.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Jordan rules.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
So she's not a threat to win, but she is
a star in a league that's never had one. The
NBA had had it stars. Bird was there and Magic
and Doctor j and Wilton. NBA had it stars. They
weren't starved for stars. That's not with NBA's always had stars.
WNBA has never had a star. So if you're the catalyst,
(26:45):
if you're the star. There was some Tiger Woods animosity.
I mean, nobody was throwing clubs at him, but there
was a lot of stuff. Some of it there were
racial overtones. I can remember multiple golfers saying kind of
inappropriate things. Everybody was a little chippy with Tiger and
two till everybody realized, hey, these purses are going up.
Tiger's making all of this money. But there was pushback
(27:07):
on Tiger initially before he started dominating and driving the
purses for all the tournaments up. Cole Hamil's Remember when
he threw at Bryce Harper?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Remember that?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Remember Bryce Harper, the chosen one out of high school.
Cole hamilstone at it.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
One more heard The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd
to listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, the downside for any manager in any sport to
having a loaded roster is expectations. Then you throw in
the Dodgers brand the Los Angeles market. Nine seasons as
the Dodger manager, they are in first place again, second
best record in the National League. They're wrapping up a
series with the Pirates. I watched it yesterday, Dave Roberts
(27:54):
joining us.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
By the way, you.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Are in Pittsburgh, and then you took your staff, I
guess to watch Mike Tomlin. So what was your thinking
on that? What did you want your staff to see
with coach Tomlin?
Speaker 6 (28:10):
So, I you know, our director of player Performance, Brandon
McDaniel set it up with Mark Brunner, former Steeler and
a friend of both of ours, and so it took
a few members of the staff, and you know, it's
voluntary workouts. So each day coach Tomlin addresses the guys.
So today was about the exclamation point and finishing plays
(28:32):
and doing things the right way, and so it was
applicable to everybody on a football field, but also obviously
in life in baseball. So, like I told you before
we aired, right now, Colin, I was like ready to
run through a wall for this man. And he's done
it for so long and one so consistently. But to
have that energy every day every year is for me,
(28:53):
it's fascinating.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Well, there are obviously ten times as many baseball games,
so when you have star it's tougher to to. I
saw there was a moment about a week ago when
you had great compassion on the mound for one of
your pitchers. Baseball is a different sensibility. You can bark occasionally,
but how often over the course of a season. You've
(29:15):
got smart veteran players, They've been around, they know the culture.
How often, Dave, do you have to ramp it up
and occasionally bark with that team you're managing.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
You know, not very often. I think I'm more of
the guy that likes to have that one off conversation.
I think that sometimes I feel, you know, given that
we play every single day, you know, when you sort
of set the stage for yourself to have a team
meeting or be visibly vocal, you sometimes make it about yourself.
(29:49):
And I always want to make it about the players,
about the game. And so I certainly get my point across,
maybe not to the liking of some people that want
to see reactions. And I'm wearing aiform, but I'm not
timy Lesorda. But I think also, you know, with football,
it's once a week, and football you can play with
the motion. Yeah, but I would argue that with baseball,
(30:11):
the tempered mindset is better, more beneficial.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
You know, Dave, you already lead by seven. You don't
even have a couple of your top pitchers, Bobby Miller,
Clayton Kershaw. You could probably hit your way to a
division crown, but obviously to be successful in the postseason
you need a full staff. Baseball is such a sport
of routine, Dave. Let's say hypothetically you get a ten
(30:36):
a twelve game lead later, you would love to have
a fresh team in the playoffs, But again, Mookie Bets
wants to play, Botani wants to play. How do you
weigh keeping a team fresh? I mean, between spring training
and the regular season. Dave, you've got two hundred games.
You want a fresh team, but you got stars, competitive
(30:58):
guys that want to go out there. The standings for
you late in the season. Will you monitor those and think?
I know my guys like routine, but I'm gonna give
some of these guys days off.
Speaker 6 (31:11):
You know. I love that you bring that up, because
the thing that's great about that is there's no right answer.
I think for me, my default always is players want
to play. Players are competitors. They signed up to play.
But I will say that given the win loss, the
record and the standings does and should dictate to some
(31:32):
point as far as workload and also give another guy's
opportunity and that's a lot of it on the pitching
side too, to protect those guys. But the fact of
the matter is that I just don't believe you can
bubble wrap guys and put them in the postseason and
then then to go out there and perform optimally. You know,
baseball is played by humans and so, and you have
(31:55):
to kind of play to keep that edge.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Yeah, but Mookie bet, you know, Tani is gonna get
kershan O'tani are always gonna get with the Dodgers, They're
gonna get a lot of play here, Mookie Bets doesn't
even make sense. The idea that you could just say, hey,
we're going movie to the infield. You wouldn't take a
running back and say you're gonna be slot corner, were you?
(32:18):
I mean, it's just it doesn't you don't see it.
I mean, it's one thing for a rod to go
from short to third. That's a transition, the Mookie transition position.
Was it tough? Was it restless?
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Did you?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
What did you make of it as you were talking
about it happening.
Speaker 6 (32:37):
I mean, I'm telling you right now, sitting here, right now,
seeing Mookie best play short stuff, I would have never,
in my wildest dreams thought that could happen. It was
a possibility. One in the fact that I just don't
see superstars making themselves so vulnerable right to a position
change that drastic and opening themselves up for criticism and
(32:58):
number two is just the performance and it's so demanding.
And I've said it before though, is that I just
don't think that there's one player in baseball that I
think could have made this transition.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Now, he's just he's historically unique. He's just a great athlete.
And look at this catch we're showing, right, He's just insane.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
He really is. Calling he is. And also the thing is,
though he's a great athlete, but he's I just love
the humility too. You know. It's one of those things
where you get a superstar player that he doesn't realize
how impactful he is. And I think that that's that's
charming for me as a manager, in the sense of
that humility and people gravitate towards him. And I was
(33:38):
talking the other day and it's just, you know, he
just loves the work, loves the grind, and you know
when you get a superstar that just loves practice, and
just like I remember Kobe. I was at Kobe's last
game and he just says, the dream is the journey,
and from Moki in particular, you know, the journey of
working and practicing, that's the dream and he lives it every.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Day, you know, Dave, there's a argument. I said this
two years ago. People compare Otani and Babe Ruth, and
I'm like, well, the Otani's better. He's playing against better players.
The game's global. Otani is remarkable in a million levels.
He looks like a movie star. He seems like the
nicest kid in the world. I think dhing is much
(34:21):
harder than people think. You go from ice cold to
merging onto freeway traffic. It's like, it's hard. Is there
moments in all your years of baseball and you've played
on that Red Sox team World Series, all the players
you've managed and seen. I remember a friend telling me
he played minor league baseball with Ken Griffy, and he
said by the third swing, he was like, oh, I
(34:44):
knew this guy. The ball off Ken Griffy's bat in
the miners didn't sound like all of ours. What did
you initially see with Otani as a Dodger. I'm not
talking angels that you just was jaw dropping? Does he
do that to you daily?
Speaker 6 (35:02):
He does? He does, And I didn't like you. We
didn't see Babe Ruth. But I'll take Otany all day long.
Given you know how difficult the game is. The specializations
of it, and you know the foot speed, but yeah,
you know, I think for me just the physicality. You know,
when you get up on show, hey, he's a lot
bigger than you think. It's like Clayton Kershaw where you
see him on the Mounta and you see him he's baggy.
(35:23):
He got baggy pants on. But when you get up
on him, he is very physical and show hey, he's
the same way. He's got broad shoulders, thin waist, not
an ounce of fat on him. And I just when
I see him from the sidelines, you know, from the dugout,
just to watch him chew up ground when he's you know,
legging out a triple or gotting down gaining ninety feet
down the line for an infield hit. And then you
(35:44):
look at the sheer raw power. So just everything he
does is just he's the best on the field at
every every asset of the game. It's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Okay, you go into a three game series with the Yankees,
obviously there's advanced scouting. You'll be handed that today or
tomorrow before I imagine it is pitch around Aaron Judge.
I don't know what the advanced scouting says with the Yankees.
But you're the Yankees of the National League. Have you
gotten a glimpse of them? They are they lead an
e r They're a power team. They throw it hard.
(36:16):
They're a powered team. Have you gotten any look ahead
on the advanced scouting on the Yankees? And what do
you see or hear?
Speaker 6 (36:24):
I haven't, you know, I've watched a lot of probably
what you've watched with fans watch. I haven't really dug
into him yet. I'll do that tonight. We got them tomorrow,
we got them this weekend. But yeah, Judges obviously having
a Judge esque type MVP season, and I think Soto
has just been a game changer. I think that that
kind of edginess, the controlling of the strike zone, the
(36:44):
getting on base, the grinding at bat at bats, I
was playing great defense. I think that's been transformative. You know,
we've known Alex Verdugo for quite some time, and and
obviously this is gonna be a great series. You know,
I think that the East West Coast Rivaly DoD Yankees,
you know, all this world series back in the past.
I think it's gonna be on the national stage. I
(37:05):
think it's great for baseball. And you also mentioned shohe
O Tani, and he's a guy, the one guy that
really can move the needle in baseball. And so I
think it's a lot of eyes are gonna be watching us.
It's gonna be a fun series. And there's some guys
from us for US that have never been to even
New Yankee Stadium, so this is a real treat.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Finally, I watched Paul Scheme yesterday. He throws the ball
pretty hard. But now in baseball, now, everybody when I
was a kid, Don Gulla of the Reds through ninety
five and he was a flamethrower, everybody throws ninety six.
Now it's just insane how hard they throw. What did
you make of him yesterday?
Speaker 6 (37:43):
It was impressive, And like you said, I mean there
was one hundred and one, one hundred and two, and
Shapman comes in and touches one hundred and four three times.
And it's like, I joke with these guys all the
time that I got out of this game well in advance,
before the game got too hard. So I marvel how
these guys can time a bullet. But skeins Man just
a year out of college. I remember watching him in
(38:05):
the World Series and to see the seamless transition he's
made against the world's best, it's pretty remarkable. It's four
pitches command, he has an idea what he's trying to do, so,
you know, I was happy that we got him out
after five. That was a you know, a win in itself.
And they got another young kid to do against us
the first night, Jared Jones, kid from California, who was
(38:26):
just as good in my opinion. So the Pirates, they're
well equipped for the coming years as far as arms.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Hey, davere one of the good guys. Continued success. We'll
be watching this weekend. Thanks for taking ten minutes and
I appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (38:38):
I appreciate you any time.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Con
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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