Warriors-Blazers, Browns, Kevin Durant, and the Pelicans

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:26):
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(00:47):
I was detacked yesterday on the internet. I'll get to
that in a couple of minutes. Barely slept last night
at all, restless night sleep, painful, hurtful things said by
people I like. Let me start with the Warriors, and
I'm talking about all dynasties here, but in particular Golden
State and the Patriots because they're the most recent. When

(01:10):
you're a dynasty, it gives you equity you can take
bigger risks because you're the man, you're the team. You
can coach with honesty and integrity and courage. You can
go for it on fourth down. In New England, you
can trade a Pro Bowl player if you think he's overpaid. Winning.

(01:31):
It's like money over time and interest. It just compounds
and compounds, and it gives you a different culture and
a different belief and confidence. Golden State, in this analytic tsunami,
gotta shoot threes. The mid range jumper is bad. Threes
threes only threes. Did you notice how they won last night?
Did you see the shot chart? Trailing in the game,

(01:52):
they relied on twos. Portland leading in the game, leading
just get buckets, took a lot of add threes. Portland
had it, chose to lose it. Golden State played with confidence, situationally,
make a couple of big defensive plays. Iggy, get the

(02:15):
basket over the three if it's available. It has been,
by the way, a bad, bad postseason for the analytic nerds.
A lot of mid range jumper teams are doing well.
Fourth quarter Golden State, all but one shot was made
from the paint. Portland's leading took a fourteen threes, yet
Golden State, trailing took only six. And if you've noticed it,

(02:36):
this year, they have moved in key situations. Golden State
off the three occasionally only eighth in the NBA in
the number of three shot. That is with Steph Curry,
the best shooter in the world, that is with Kevin
Durant the best player in the world. That is with
Claye Thompson the next best shooter in the world. And
they were seventeenth actually in the Morey Ball stat Daryl

(03:01):
Morey rockets GM Friend of the Show, love him Houston's
number one three. Three's gotta shoot threes. We're chasing, We're
obsessed threes three, the best shooting team in the league
moved to seventeenth because the best shooting team in the
league has the confidence to just go get buckets, to
not play to the crowd and the critics and the

(03:22):
analytic Maven's. Last night's game, Portland had it and shot
a bunch of bad threes. Golden State trailed and relied
heavily down the stretch on twos. When you're chasing, when
you're obsessed, when you're concerned and consumed about the optics,
and Golden State's not. New England's not they trade good players. Well,

(03:46):
they're overvalued. They move the ball fourth down in their
own territory. We just like our chances here. But what
if you who cares? It's like interest. What did Einstein say?
The most powerful force in the world is compounding interest.
It's the same thing with sports. The more you win,
the more courage, the more honesty, the more integrity you

(04:07):
can coach with. And don't kid yourself. There are coaches
up there, there are gms out there, there are owners
out there. There are players out there petrified of what
people might say about them if they lose. Believe me,
I got attacked by two yesterday. There was a moment
in the game that was interesting. Golden State led one
twelve one eleven, had the ball steps hands, three pointer
ends it and they didn't take it. They came down

(04:30):
and got the best shot from Draymond Greene fourteen one eleven,
now a three ball and the best three ball shooter
in the world. Had it would have ended the game,
but they still went and took the best shot. And
by the way, what's remarkable is Golden State shot sixty
percent on threes in the third quarter. They could have
easily convinced themselves just keep chucking, just keep shooting. No,

(04:52):
they're like, no, now, let's take the best shots available.
Dynasties aren't obsessed, they're not consumed, they're not chasing. New
England and Golden State are both brilliant situationally because they're
not playing to anybody other than the truth, integrity of

(05:14):
the shot, integrity of the play. They're not worried about
the critics. Last night was a clinic in how dynasties
win games they're outplayed in how dynasties win a game
they had no business winning. I mean, you saw it
in the Super Bowl. New England MS tied early. Did
you ever think the Rams are going to be better

(05:35):
late than New England? No? And last night I'm watching
that game and I'm thinking, God, Golden State's just taken
smart shots inside. When the rims available, go get it.
Don't be worried about playing to the analytic tsunami. Don't
be worried about if you lose, what will they say?
No pressure, not tight, total confidence. That's what dynasties look like.

(06:00):
Layton games, and these dynasties don't keep yourself Michael Jordan
they didn't sweep teams in the finals. They didn't sweep
teams in the Eastern Conference finals. Michael Jordan's Bulls went
to a lot of game sixes. Go ask Utah, Go
ask Phoenix, Go ask Seattle. They went to a lot
of game sixes. They won a lot of close games
in those playoffs, just like Golden State won last night.

(06:21):
Just a piece of art? Is that what that was?
Three minutes, four minutes in the game. That was That
was art? Basketball, good shots, smart shots. Hit him, make
a play defensionally, situationally. Coaching great great, great, great great,
Let's shift to this. This was not great. It's almost
ruined my night. So yesterday a story came out, and

(06:44):
the story came out basically that Cleveland, their coach, Freddie Kitchens,
was clearly not happy, but said Odell Beckham has left town.
We want to get his mind right before he's at practice.
He came for one ota practice and laugh. Now this
bothers me for a lot of reasons. Number One, Baker
mayfields in a second year. Odell doesn't know the players,

(07:05):
the coach, the playbook, the formations, doesn't know anything. Receiver, quarterback,
especially receiver young quarterback get this thing tight. Come on,
let's go. I wouldn't care if it was a tight
end running back, a corner of safety, star receiver, second
year quarterback. Let's get the timing down. I mean, Tom
Brady spends his off seasons with Edelman and they already
have timing. So I said, we got more drama. We

(07:29):
have a coach having to talk about ob J. I said,
is it me or is o b J gunn? From
circus catch to now just more circus So I put
up his ten most memorable moments in his career, not
as ten best plays. I didn't call it that, not
as ten great as catches, his ten most memorable moments
in his career, because my point was once should start

(07:51):
looking at him the catch, the boat fight with Nett,
meltdown and tunnel, Paris hotel room fight with Norman p
and in the end zone. My point was one just
looking at his ten biggest moments, it's a lot of
non football nonsense. There's the catch, and this is a
bunch of Paris hotel room fighting with a net p
and in the end zone. I'm like, we've gone from

(08:12):
circus catch to circus act. I didn't say this was
the ten best plays, and at my point was I
thought a very fair one, which it was very fair.
And OBJ is a public figure. You gotta deal with
some criticism. Well, OBJ went apoplectic. He attacked me viciously
on Twitter. I'm not going to go through all these
I'll put them up for our FS one listener. It
just was like hours of just four separate tweets and reactions.

(08:34):
By the way, Baker Mayfield came after me. Didn't love
that because I thought we were just getting tight. And
so Baker attacked me, and Odell Beckham attacked me, and
of course this proves one thing that's right. We're no ta's.
It's already dysfunctional. Let's retrace the steps here with me

(08:55):
and OBJ. I always supported Odell Beckham Junior in New York.
I said, listen, he's young, he's dynamic. Eli's a shot fighter.
He needs to move that. This is not working. And
I and I said, I said, I don't like all
of his nonsense, but this kid's great. This kid's an
all timer. Eli's a shot fighter, He's doing some nice things.

(09:18):
You gotta put this kid with a legit top ten quarterback.
And then I also sat on the air before he
left New York, I said, I think he's gonna get traded,
despite what the Giant said. And I said, you know,
this kid was not dysfunctional at LSU, and he was
not dysfunctional his first year in New York. He's gotten
kind of chaotic as the Giants have become chaotic. And
I sat on the air, I said, let's be honest

(09:39):
about this. Maybe he's just a young kid that doesn't
work well in chaos. I can I know personally, I
don't either. I'm a child of divorce. I like less conflict,
steady management, quiet in the house. And he reached out
to me and he said, you kind of nailed it
on that. And it was a really neat thirty minute conversation.
I was up in Utah hanging out skin and we

(09:59):
really connected and I said, hey, he told me some
things I still won't relay to you about where he
wanted to play whatever. Then he signs with Cleveland. I
sent him a congrats kick butt because you know, I
knew it wasn't exactly where he wanted to go home,
but it was a good start. Baker Mayfield's very accurate
as a thrower. OBJ runs the best slant pattern in
the league. I'm like, good, he'll he'll get stats. At

(10:19):
least he's playing now with a young quarterback moving into
his prime. It's a good feeling for him. And then
yesterday the story about he's been in Cleveland three days
of the sixty five he came for one left coach
said I'd like him to be here. I've never said that,
but he's got to get his mind right. And it's
been sixty five days since the trade and he doesn't

(10:41):
have his mind right. And then the reaction and it's
sort of proven my point, which is, are you a
circus catch? Are you just a circus? Because now you
got the quarterback, Now you got the players around you.
Because Cleveland got players. Now are they a great team?
I don't know, but they got players. They got players everywhere.

(11:05):
They got two good running backs and at mid season
a third. Their offensive line was top three in the
league according to Pro Football Focus. They got now Odell
and Jarvis Landry, best young tight end in football, good
pass rusher, Denzel Awards, an elite corner. I mean, they
got all sorts of players, But my concern was this tweets,
Instagram net circus thin skin overreacting. I do not regret

(11:33):
in any way my ten most memorable moments, because my
point was, what is ob j now? Is either circus
catch or is it just now a circus? You can't
be in Cleveland three days of sixty five. You gotta
get there. You got a great young second year quarterback,

(11:55):
you got it. You got a new coach, you got
a new playbook, you got new teammates, you got new players,
you've got new offense, you got new you gotta get there.
You got be in town. You gotta get your mind right.
I don't want to hear about sixty five days. Sixty
five days, sixty five days. That's enough time to get
your mind right. And by the way, Tom Brady he's
vacationing with Julian Edelman. He's working on that stuff. Nine
years into the relationship. You got to get this thing

(12:18):
down and so on. My concern initially for the Cleveland
Browns is this, this is it. By the way, there's
a story out today. I'm not gonna get into it,
but Big Ben is vacationing with his wide receivers and
running backs at his lake house. Not on Twitter. I'm

(12:41):
screaming and yelling at innocent victims like me. Once again,
I am trying to save another franchise, Philadelphia seventy six ers.
I'm trying to save you, Cleveland Browns. I'm trying to
point out some problems and save you from going down
this absurd twenty year abyss you've been in. You want

(13:03):
to say mean things about me, that's fine, but I'll
just let you know I did not sleep well last night,
very restless, and I can't do this show at the
highest level if I'm struggling with sleep. So OBJ and Baker,
if you'd like to apologize to me at any point,
I am certainly willing to consider that listening to that,
and I have two seats now always welcome. You could

(13:25):
come on the show anytime and I will give it
great thought, but I would strongly consider accepting your apology
at this point. Coming up next, we're freaking out about
the word better or the Warriors Better. We're freaking out better.
It's freaking us out, and I'm here to talk y'all
off the Ledge Warriors. There is some Better without KD

(13:49):
that's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine am Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. So
good to have you in there. I have not heard
from ob Jane Baker Mayfield yet, still waiting for an apology.
I have come to terms with I will accept the
apology at any time it is given. Hopefully over the weekend.
I can sleep better. So Seth Curry, brother of Steph Curry,

(14:12):
feels the Warriors are quote harder to guard without Kevin
Durant quote, I think they're harder to guard. They move
around faster when he's not out there. They're definitely not
a better team. The word better is interesting because that's
what everybody's freaking out about. WHOA Katie's gone? They're not better? WHOA?
Lebron's better than MJ? WHOA? WHOA Lebron is better than

(14:34):
m J. A lot of things. He's a better passer,
he's a better rebounder, he's a bigger, stronger athlete. He
shot a three ball better. There's a lot of things.
Lebron is better than m J. Six for six whole better?
WHOA what we we're freaking out with? Better? Well, Steph
is better without Katie and the floor Statistically, Draymond is
better without Steff on the floor. Carson Wentz is better

(14:55):
than Nick Foles. But here's what happens when Nick Foles
is not as big, not as strong, not as athletic.
But Alshan Jeffrey is better with Nick Foles. The offense
is more balanced, it's a little less ad libbed. They
follow the coaching. But Carson Wentz is better than Nick Foles.
But there are things nick Foles does better than Carson Wentz.

(15:17):
Good enough to win a Super Bowl. Okay, one thing
is clear watching this. Golden State's not falling off a cliff. Sorry,
Charles Barkley. When Katie leaves, they may not win titles,
but they've got a great coach, a great GM, a
great owner, a great culture, a great system, a great
new arena, the best backcourt ever, the greatest shooter ever,
the best ball hander in the league, Steff, Corey go Bet,

(15:38):
the best leader in the league, the energizer Buddy and
Draymond Green, the best robin to batman in the league,
and in Clay Thompson. It may not be better, but
it's not falling off a cliff. They're gonna be fine.
Look at Katie like this. Katie is thes he's the
five Stars chef, the Zagat chef, the James Beard Award

(16:00):
winning chef. And when he's in the kitchen, Gordon Ramsey,
he dominates the kitchen. He dominates the kitchen. The meal's
always spectacular. The critics lava, it's unbelievable. And then he leaves.
And by the way, the meals still really really good.
Is it better. Let's get away from the word better.
The kitchen's more fun. Everybody's part of it, it's a collective.

(16:21):
They're happier, it moves better, everybody feels a little less rigid.
And is the meal better? Probably not, but it's still
really really good and there are things that work better
when Gordon Ramsey leaves the kitchen, although you won't get
the five Stars Zagat rated perfect plate, but the kitchen's

(16:41):
still good. The meal is still good. The kitchen's more fun,
lively and communal as Okay, that's the reality was superstars.
They hog up all the oxygen in the room. It's
just let's why Shack yells at Charles Barkley on TNT
because when Charles is on a set, he steals all
the oxygen because he's a superstar on television and KD
steals some of the oxygen, but the meal's not better.

(17:04):
We'll go back to that word everybody's freaking out about.
But it's different and it's darn good without him. But
over the course of a year, you want Gordon Hayward
in the kitchen. He's gonna make a series of decisions
on the menu night tonight, decisions that will keep you
five star and you'll probably slip the four star, four
and a half star without it. But you can still
go there and have a great meal. And on nights

(17:26):
you walk into that kitchen, you're like, man, it's fun
and lively in here. It is just everybody's having a
good time in here. Not a tense because once you
have KD it gets a little tense because, oh, now
you gotta win, because when you got the five star chef,
you gotta have great meals. Can't have a bad meal,
a bad set, a bad night, a bad menu. And
when you got KD, you have to win the championship.

(17:48):
You have to. Now Golden State kind of surprised how
well they're playing. It loosens up the room a little bit,
But we're freaking out about better. Lebron is better than
my Chase Jordan In a lot of things. There are
things Nick Foles did better than Carson wentz ask Al,
Sean Jeffrey, And yes, the Warriors Stephan Draymond are better.

(18:11):
The passings better, the cutting's better, the fluidity's better. Can't
deny any of that. Nick Wright was talking about that
on First Things First this morning, and he doesn't even
like Golden State. Even if the Warriors aren't better without him,
Stephen Draymond are when Katie's not there. Both of those
guys have to play at such a high level. Draymond

(18:32):
was so much energy and Steph was so much potency
that those guys they step up their game enough that
it at least almost accounts for not having Katie out there.
He's all right, And for the record, I think we're
all thinking the same thing talking about this, Katie's out
of there. I still don't think he's out of there necessarily.

(18:54):
Now I think he will leave. I've had a current
NBA player tell me he's one hundred percent gone. I've
had a former All Star player tell me he's one
hundred percent gone. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't leave,
I would stay off Twitter. I wouldn't listen to Instagram.
I don't care what anybody says. I would open up
the new arena after you guys, when you're third, then
you'll win a fourth. Potentially. I would not go. Zion's

(19:15):
not going to New York. We don't necessarily know for
sure that Anthony Davis will go, because do the Knicks
have enough pieces? But I would imagine Katie's watching shows
like these and listening and reading and tweeting and Burner
account or not. Some of this is landing not great
with KD. And I'm just here to tell you, KD.

(19:37):
The menu will always be better with you in the kitchen,
but it's not going to be lousy without you. And
you do create an intensity and expectation because of your
greatness that's palpable in the room. And when you're gone,
it's a little loose. It's a little fun over time.
I don't want too much fun and too loose, but

(19:59):
in short bursts, it's it's good. Veteran newsman John Goulay
with the news No, No, this is the herd Line News. So,
speaking of Baker Mayfield, who has not yet apologized to you.
You have had your issues with Baker more off the

(20:21):
field over the years, I would say, yeah, but he's
been doing something recently that I think you would actually
really like. He's been trying to learn from Tom Brady.
He spent some time with him when they filmed that
NFL one hundred commercial that was funny. He also spent
some time with him at the Kentucky Derby. Here is
what Baker said about him just being around you know,

(20:41):
the greatest of all time is just obviously it's an
honor just to be around them. And then how he
is with his teammates, the guy he's played with in
the past, you know, how they speak so highly of him,
and then just you don't really talk about football in
those situations, but how he treats everybody, how he handles himself,
I think is just some of the better example on
how to go through life. And he's just he does

(21:02):
it all right. Obviously that was from yesterday, That was
pre shave. That was Baker still with me. No, this
is Tom Brady's grown up. Does does that create a
little internal conflict in your brain right now? The Baker's
not a dope. Baker's smart, right, Okay, Baker, let's get off.
Let's get out of the yelling, screaming, grabbing yourself nonsense.

(21:23):
You're a very accurate thrower of the football. I do
not think you're gonna be Drew Brees, and I think
you're gonna have to overcome a lot of the goofiness
of the Cleveland ownership going forward. But yes, you should
model your career after Tom Brady and his maturity. Just
like all you young broadcasters out there, you should model
it after our show, not slappy and mud flap in

(21:43):
the morning on ninety seven dot five New Mexico's Best Rock.
You should watch us and model your show after us.
I appreciate the at least at our show and not
just me so. Earlier this week, Redskins safety Lendon Collins
talked about how they got the best quarterback in the
draft in Dwayne Haskins, as the Giants passed on him
and took Daniel Jones. I do agree with that, right well, Cotton.

(22:04):
Remember Collins was not let go by the Giants, but
not retained by Dave Gettlman. They could have franchised him,
they could have done many things. They let him. Good player,
not great, but should good player. Neither was cornerback Josh Norman.
Remember when Getlman was the GM in Carolina, he rescinded
the franchise tag on Norman. Remember they tagged him and
then undid it and let him go to the Redskins. Yes,

(22:26):
so Norman had some thoughts on the Giants GM Dave
Gettlman on the rich eisenshow yesterday, boy, I think we
need to put him on salary. I think you need
to put him on salary. I mean they need to
protect Dave Gentleman all contents in New York for sure,
Man all cause because he's winning for us. Is Dave Getleman.

(22:54):
Are those comments over the line by Josh Norman. I
think Washington should have an opinion on anybody else's football
up operation, Like Washington should just play football. Philadelphia could
have an opinion on the Giants, the Rams could New England,
you know Chargers. There's organizations that win consistently. Baltimore, you

(23:15):
can have an opinion, But I don't think Washington. Washington,
And this is a lot of Dan's night Er. Washington's
dysfunctional too. If that was the seven to eight dysfunctional
NFL teams, Washington's one of the dysfunctional teams. Aren't they.
They can't get the quarterback right. It's also a little
personal with both of those guys, you know. And finally,
before Game two of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors
revealed that Kevin Durant is not even making the trip

(23:37):
to Portland for games three and four. So he will
he has been ruled out, and their head coach, Steve Kerr,
he did not sound too optimistic about this injury. Hopefully
he continues to progress, and he has made progress, but
you know, it's a little more more serious than than

(23:58):
we thought at the very beginning. And and m So
we'll see where it all goes. But he's in there
um all day long, getting treatment. He's done a great
job of committing himself to that process. Rick and his
staff are in there all day and hopefully he'll be
back at some point. I we'll just you know, we'll
just wait and see. I'd love to go one of

(24:18):
those games up in Portland. That game three is fine,
it's gonna be I think one of them Portland's gonna
blow out. I think Portland's gonna have a really good
Game three at home. Yea. And but all Golden State
needs to split. If they got a split. They they
got the series. Well, I mean, it's clear they don't
need Durant to beat the Blazers, But do they need
him to beat either of the Eastern Conference? They need
Durant to beat the Blazers in Portland. Let's let's just wait.

(24:43):
They don't need him to beat the Blazers in Oracle,
But now I get a four point advantage. You know
what's the swing between Oracle and the Rose Garden? The
biggest game. It's the biggest game in Portland in a
lot time. Yeah, play great. Portland's gonna be. By the way,
I thought last night's game, the second half was one
of the most entertaining ninety minutes of basketball I've seen

(25:04):
in years. It was and you know what I like
about it. I love Golden State not just jacking up threes.
It was like a lot of smart basketball, find the
best shots. It's really fun. That's that's veteran newsman John Goula. Well,
that's the news, and thanks for stopping the herdline news.

(25:25):
Where is Bruce Hart today? Is he in New York?
He's still in New York. Okay, Let's let's not waste
any time here with speaking of veteran newsman. Have you
noticed have you noticed Bruce hard when he goes to
New York City kind of mails it in out here?
Have you noticed how handsome and debon Area is. Let's
go to the Coward Global Satellite network. The guy looked
like he's a Tom Ford model. What the hell's going
on with Bruce Hardy? Look at these pocket squares so tight?

(25:49):
Look at that. I don't know how to take that.
Is that a compliment or is that an insult? When
I'm in LA, I'm not sure. Well, I see the
way Parker dresses. You definitely need to step it up
out here just to make that odd couple show work.
On Fox Bars Radio, I was saying this, it's been
a bad couple. It's been a bad month for the
analytic Maven's because I'm watching Golden State last night, Chris,

(26:11):
and in that fourth quarter they just went for the
best shot. Portland with a lead, took fourteen threes and
in some instances I thought, bad shots. What do you
make of Golden State? You know you talked about it
earlier this year. You're the first that tipped me off
to this. They are not in Houston's class as a

(26:32):
three ball team. They really work a lot for the
best shot, and I thought last night was an example
of that. No, you're not, You're totally on point, and
not just in the fourth quarter, but generally, the great
misperception about Golden State is that they're just this three
point shooting team that hoists a bunch of shots from

(26:52):
thirty feet. Yeah, they do have the two best shooters
or two of the best shooters of all time in
clay As Stephan when Durant's there, but they were second
in the league this regular season in mid range shots.
They get backdoor layups, Stephen and other guys will drive,
get dribble drives and finish at the rim. And then

(27:13):
of course the three point shot. So while Houston and
last night Portland, Milwaukee, you know, all these teams have
gone overboard with the three point shot, Golden State which
changed the game, they still have a great balance and
that is one of the reasons why they are the
best team in the league because of that balance. Thirty

(27:36):
two and four, when Katie doesn't play in steph does
how do you think this is landing on Kevin Durant
watching this transpliyer look, Kevin Durant is a human being,
all right, That means inside it's hurting him. I mean,
period of the end. You love it. If if Nick

(27:59):
Right or Jason McIntyre was to fill in for your show,
you know and do do a pretty good job. But
if one of them filled in for your show and
the ratings skyrocketed, you be upset because you're a human being.
I would too. I mean, unless Kevin Durant is Jesus Christ,
then he's gotta be hurting with the way they're playing

(28:20):
without him. So I just think, look, I heard you
alluding to it earlier. If they win this championship without
Kevin Durant, he's got the Bowl if he has because
some people. I'm not one of those people. I don't
think you are either, But there are people fans and
ex players, current players, who belittle his two championships, even

(28:45):
though he was the finals MVP, even though he's arguably
the best player in the world. They belittle those two championships.
We heard Clyde Frasier do it say there's an asterisk
by it? What do you think that'll be? If they
win it without him, they'll believe them even more. Marcus Thompson,
you know you love him on your show. I love him.
He just came out with a book KD Kevin Durant's

(29:08):
relentless pursuit to be the Greatest. If that title is
accurate and Durant really wants to be the greatest to
ever play, he has no choice but to get out
of Golden State and go somewhere and try to lead
his own team to a title. I saw this story
and I want you to address it. I'll talk about

(29:29):
it later because I think the Eastern Conference could be
in trouble if Kyrie Irving goes west. There's a story
now that Kyrie's considering the Lakers and so is Anthony Davis,
and that NBA executives are petrified of Kyrie and Anthony
Davis joining Lebron. Can you refute it, confirm it? What
do you make of that story? Yeah? I mean, look,

(29:49):
everything I'm being told, and this is by people close
to this situation, is that there is very little, almost
no chance of Kyrie Irving going to the AS now.
He will meet with them out of respect for Lebron.
Obviously they've rekindled their relationship. But this would shock people
close to Kyrie, all right, if he decided to go

(30:12):
back to play with Lebron and the Lakers. Obviously there's
a chance of Anthony Davis going there, but I think
there's a better chance of both of those guys, Kada
or Kyrie and A D going to New York. We
know about Kyrie's ties with Kevin Durant. You know if
they go there, they're they're not Kyrie's not joining somebody

(30:33):
else's team, even though Katie's the better player. Is kind
of both of them going there together. The reason I
think A D could wind up with the Knicks is
because David Griffin, the new president general manager in New Orleans,
is gonna make it very difficult on the Lakers to
get Anthony Davis. Now, I don't think he'll make it impossible,

(30:55):
but it's gonna be hard. And if he really likes RJ. Barrett,
they could get from the Knicks. If they trade with
the Knicks, Rade D and you unite the roommates, the
great friends, the former all Americans at Duke put them
together in New Orleans. That's a great story line. Everybody
would be into it, and they're two great young players.

(31:17):
So I think New York is in the driver's seat
and the favorite to get Anthony Davis. By the way,
Milwaukee Toronto probably isn't fascinating to the masses. We've got
the Kawhi could leave Toronto story. You and I talked
about it this week. You know, it's really interesting when
you look at this Milwaukee team and their salaries and
their youth, and the star and the coach. If Anthony

(31:41):
Davis does not go east, if Kevin Durant does not
go east, if Kyrie did go west, I got it
looks like to me Milwaukee could dominate the East for
a long time. The people in the league are they
talking about that? Well, so many people in the league

(32:05):
are convinced that Anthony Davis will end up in the East,
and that Kyrie Irving will stay in the East, whether
it's Boston, although a lot of people think he's out
of there, they think it's New York. You know, there
may be an outlier here there that thinks they're gonna
go to LA And then most thing KD is going
to New York as well. So I don't think people

(32:26):
fear a lopsided league as it has been, like the
East has one or two good teams and then everybody
else is in the West. Yannis, though, you're you're right
about them if that were to happen, having a chance
to dominate the conference the way Lebron James has. If
your scenario came true, I mean, Philadelphia would be the

(32:47):
only team in their way, and we know how immature
they are. You know about Joelmbe's health issues. It could
be Lebron James all over again. But here's something else, Colin.
We need to look at what is ya is? What
is his sealing like? If the Milwaukee Bucks win the
championship this year, that'll be completely unprecedented. I don't think

(33:09):
we've ever seen a team go from the sixteenth best
record or somewhere around there to the NBA Championship in
one year without adding a major star. The closest I
can think of. You'll remember this was Portland in nineteen
seventy seven, but they did add Maurice Lucas, who was
an All Star. So this is unprecedented. What does this

(33:33):
say about how good Yannis is? And wait till he
adds the three point shot. He's getting better from behind
the arc. I think in two years he will be
a very competent three point shooter, probably around thirty six
thirty seven thirty eight percent from three. He's going to
be unstoppable and he could wind up eventually putting himself

(33:56):
in that goat conversation. Good stuff, Crush Brucechhard, have a weekend.
Enjoy Rob Parker in the show Today Odd Couple Fox
Sports Radio. Thanks bud Alight. He goes to New York.
He's the best dress man at Fox Sports. How about that?
Coming up next, I'm gonna say something and do something
I've never done before in my career. Goo lay as

(34:18):
a witness that's next to Herd. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter ninety
Empacific Discovers going further with Miles rewards than ever before.
Discover at Miles card automatically matches all the miles you're
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Discovery Match for new card members only. Learn more at
discover dot com. Slash travel by the way we have
had I'm just telling you right now. Ratings numbers coming

(34:40):
in podcast streaming, Holly Molly, good to have you in.
So I'm gonna do something I've never done before. I'm
going to foreign territory and I'm not sure how this
will be received, but I'm okay with a pushback. I mean,
I got Odell Beckham Junior screaming at me and Baker
Mayfield saying mean terrible things. I won't leap well, but

(35:00):
I can survive. Right I'm drinking water and trying to
do everything else. Right here, I do something that I've
never done before, my first ever hot golf take. So
Brooks kept cuzz leading the PGA Championship and shot a
course record yesterday, and he bores me to tears, and

(35:22):
I could not care less. That's my hot golf take.
He's the Kawhi Leonard of golf, great and boring. He's
got no personality. I get no mood swings, I get
no fist pump. He's a weight room junkie. Oh fascinating,
Go back to golds after you hit another birdie. He
was asked a couple of weeks ago what you think
about on the course. He said, I don't think much.

(35:43):
Oh great, fascinating, got hemmingway out there. The guy's great nuts.
I ate him my entire life. For cereal. Every morning
my mom made me eat raisin brand, but mostly great nuts.
Forty years later, I don't remember one bowl of Great Nuts.
I remember Lucky Charms, I remember Honeycomb, I remember Count Chocola,
I remember kicks, I remember tricks, I remember apple jacks.

(36:06):
I don't remember great nuts. He's a great golfer, yep
won three or seven majors. But you're you all, you
golf addicts who pull your pants up to your neck
when you get post fifth. They have been lecturing me
about Jordan Speth and Rory McElroy and Justin Rose that
they're gonna be the next Tiger. There's never gonna be
another Tiger. He threw his clubs, he swore, he didn't

(36:28):
look like a country club guy. He was grade at eleven.
He was different. The red shirt, the galleries, he moved
the earth. He was a walking tsunami tiger was different.
The injuries, even now, the divorce, the stuff. And I
know what you're saying, old cranky golf guy. It's a
shame that you have to do that to be interesting.

(36:48):
No it's not. It's called life. Don't you stop for
a car wreck? Come on, golf guy, there's a car wreck,
eight cars piled up. Don't you don't stop and look?
Oh you're the one cool guy who doesn't I do.
Everybody does. Dustin Johnson, by the way, is fascinating, hot wife,
drug issues, meltdowns, inconsistent play, bombs it off the tea.

(37:14):
He's fascinating. Dustin Johnson's fascinating because he's flawed, because he's imperfect,
just like Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods is imperfect. He's real.
It's why Kevin Durant's interesting. It's why Aaron Rodgers is interesting.
It's why a lot of people think Russell Wilson's boring
and Jared Goff is boring? Could you get the same guy?
And Andrew luck is boring. I get it. I just

(37:35):
like my quarterbacks boring, but I don't like my golfer's boring.
Arnold Palmer wasn't boring. Lee Trevino wasn't boring. Tiger Woods
wasn't boring. Phil Mickelson's had all sorts of controversies. He's
not boring. Every time I'm opening it up, something about
philm Michelson. He's in trouble doing something here and something there,
and this bat and this stock, and he's fascinating. He's
the only guy in sports I've never had on the show.

(37:56):
I'd die to have on the show. Phil Mickelson, I
love the guy. I can't turn off philm Michelson. I
can turn off Justin Rose, I can turn off Rory McElroy.
I can turn off Jordan Spieth. I couldn't turn off Tiger.
So it's my hot golf take. By the way, how

(38:18):
how would the gallery respond to my hot golf take? That?
That's that's the same applause Keepka gets and nobody's saying
he's not great. But you people have been telling me
for a decade, Oh, this guy's gonna be Tiger. This
guy's gonna be tight. There's never gonna be another Muhammad Ali.
It's never gonna happen, so rare, so you know we're

(38:40):
never gonna have another Tiger Woods. Not gonna happen. We
almost had. We've had people close to Michael Jordan, Kobe
Bryant was close, and Lebron sometimes is better. But but
Tiger Woods. We've had a lot of good basketball players.
But Tiger Woods changed ratings. I mean he changed ratings
on the US Open, on the Masters. Like people just

(39:02):
left watching these legendary tournaments. I've never walked. I haven't
missed a Masters in a US Open I haven't, you know,
or a Kentucky Derby. I mean, Nike literally said, let's
go all in on golf. Nike the Joggings running football
uniform company, Let's go on on golf golf. Tiger leaves,
let's pull out of golf. Dick Sporting Goods, biggest sports

(39:25):
you know company in the country, moved out of golf
when Tiger moved away from golf. It's nothing against Brett,
Brett the guy can bench press Rhode Island Brooks. There
you go, Brooks, Brooks kepko. I'm not denying he's great.
I'm not denying he can bench press me. I'm not
denying any of that. So I'm not denying he's amazing.
But he's not interesting. He's not fascinating and let's just

(39:46):
sit in a Corsalta and hit golf balls. Yeah, that's
really negative, not just honest. Phil Michelson's fascinating, Dustin Johnson,
Tiger Woods, Jack Nicholas. There are a lot of guys
that are interesting. Dustin Johnson, I just you know, I
gotta be honest with you. I like people with issues.
I like people, you know. I mean, when it comes
to golf, in tennis, these individual sports, team sports. I

(40:10):
don't want you to be a wreck because you're part
of a team, a collective. But when it comes to skiing,
in tennis and golf, I like a little juice, I
like a little energy. I like a little hot mess.
I do I do that Tiger Masters win. Why was
that so fascinating? Because for like years he was you know,

(40:32):
you see him on the video and he's slearned, he's
on the road, he's a messed up, and then he
recovers from it and his redemption. And that's what Hollywood's
writing movies about. I mean, by the way, Agasy, we
learned years later he didn't meth. Pete Stampers did not.
Pete Stampers was boring, AGAs he was flawed. Fascinating. One

(40:52):
more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeart Radio app. Search
Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Ah,
here we go hour two and a Friday. Man, we
are packed. This show is just starting. Baby. This is
The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may
be listening. We are live in Los Angeles on iHeartRadio,

(41:17):
Fox Sports Radio, and right here on FS one Joy
Taylor is gone. She is back Monday. A veteran newsman,
John Goulay fills incapably as Owa's by the way, as
Baker Mayfield an Odell Beckham Junior. If they apologized to
me yet for the awful things they said yesterday and
attack me viciously or not yet, I have not seen
an apology come across yet. You know what else you

(41:42):
look at the elevation of Baker's career is branding. I'm
a big part of that, so little apology would go
a long way. Maybe even a video or something would
be nice, not just some pithy I'm sorry on Twitter,
but you know, a real commitment to apologizing and mending
the fence here. I want to start with this. Speaking
of the Cleveland Browns, I saw this story. This is

(42:03):
a big where Colin was right. I don't mean to
be obnoxious, but I'm gonna read this story. This is
the headline. I just love this. Big Ben is hosting
the Steelers skill players at his lake house this week,
where Colin was very right. Juju Smith, Schuster, James Conner.

(42:24):
There's the picture at his lake house on the butt. Well,
isn't that exactly what we predicted? Isn't that exactly what
we predicted? We said, you watch Big Ben come out
so focused and so driven to prove Antonio Brown wrong,
Lavan Bell wrong, to shut Cleveland up. And I've been
saying I cannot wait for this year for Big Ben

(42:49):
and the Pittsburgh Steelers. You folks have given this division
to Baker and Lamar Jackson and Baltimore and Cleveland. I'm
riding and I'm rolling with Big Ben and the Steelers
and the logo and the front office and that owner
and that veteran head coach Mike Tomlin, who has driven
me crazy before. But Mike Tomlin's also won a lot
of divisions and a super Bowl and a lot of

(43:11):
big games. And I'm rolling with Pittsburgh. Odell, Beckham and
Baker yesterday are screaming at our innocent radio host. And
here's a guy camaraderie on a boat with his teammates
hanging out, barbecueing. This is exactly exactly what I predicted.
And I'll say this Ben's. Ben's career is not as

(43:33):
linear as Tom Brady's. It's been interesting, it's had bumps,
There's been four stages of Big Ben's career. Number one talented,
but he inherited a great roster. He won a Super
Bowl and he didn't have a huge part in it.
The second stage was, you know, like year three through
year like nine, he has absolutely arrived. He's an all

(43:56):
time talent and he's carrying even average defenses. Then there
stage three. He's getting hurt. Maybe he got a little loose,
little sloppy, little rich, had kids. Maybe the focus is off,
kind of the roller coaster, can't beat the Patriots. I
believe he's entered stage four, which is resurrection and resolve

(44:16):
better shape. Guys, that drove him nuts out of the building.
No more talking about retirement. Have you noticed that talking
about extending his career, inviting people over to his house
off season, Resolve, resurrection, focus. Yeah, his career. Tom Brady's
career has been you know, a little like you know,

(44:39):
a little like Tom Hanks. You know, it's just win
after win after win. Maybe not every year. Tom Hanks
had an occasional bad movie follows it with a home run,
you know. And Ben's career has been hit with hit
with hit, hit, hit with hit. It's been a little bumpy.
But this story is something I absolutely love. I've said

(45:01):
it for years. Give me the owner, the GM, the coach,
and the quarterback, and if they're all near an A,
A B plus or ana, I am rolling with it.
I don't know what Freddie Kitchens is is Freddie do
I think the Browns have an A owner do? I
think the Browns have an A coach? I think they
have a B quarterback who could move into a different area.

(45:22):
I think their GM is super super good at finding
talent but not building chemistry. So why Kansas any moved him?
But God, I love this story on Pittsburgh. I love
it on Big Ben. It's falling right into what we
thought would happen. I'm gonna prove Antonio Brown wrong. I'm
gonna prove we don't need Lavian Bell. I'm gonna prove
I wasn't the problem. You watch him now, he's hanging out,

(45:43):
Watch him coming to the best shape he's ever been
in camp. You're gonna hear that story in the next
three months. Best shape he's ever been in mark my words.
Let's shift to this Rockets general manager Darryl Moorey smart
guy like him a lot, really thoughtful loves analytics. He's
kind of you know, there was money ball, now they
have more ball threes threes, threes threes. Midrange jumper bad

(46:05):
should be noted Chris Paul was the best player on
the floor in their last game of the year, and
Chris Paul's a midrange jumper guy. I know all you
analytic mavens want to you know, you want to put
the pocket protector in Intel as you have to shoot
threes or your evil. Houston's number one in the analytics
Golden State this year, dropped the seventeenth in Morey Ball,

(46:26):
So slow down. But he said this yesterday. He said,
anytime you've got the best player in the world, said
Darryl Morey, meaning James Harden, you got a chance. If
you look at the history of NBA championships, you know
the teams were the best player, and we feel James
Harden gives us a shot every year. Yes, analytically. Analytically,
I'm not going to deny that James Harden is a

(46:48):
top three player in the NBA. But let's look at
reality and not math. The reality is that NBA legacies
and reputations are built on playoff success. I didn't that
rule up. I didn't make that rule up. Those are
the rules. Okay. I don't think speed limit should be

(47:10):
fifty five, but those are the rules. That's why I
drive around fifty five. Okay, if you don't win in
the postseason, Dan Marino, you don't get to be in
the greatest conversation. And those are the rules in the NBA. Secondly,
the mid range jumper, by the way, is having a
playoff renaissance. And Joe lm Bead and Janis are two

(47:32):
superstars and they're never going to be great at shooting
the three. I doubt it seriously. And Kevin Durant's still
the best two shooter in the league, and Kawhi shoots
a great two. And Portland's been living off midrange jumpers,
and last night Golden State lived off the two, not
the three late and also with James Harden And this
is just a reality, not analytically. I don't know if
analytics picks this up. But because of his body and

(47:55):
because of his style, he wears down late in seasons.
He just looked tired. He's just not as good when
you get past the first round, sometimes late in the
first round. Maybe it's his body type maybe it's his
style which is ball centric, dominating the ball, but his
style does not lend itself to be in great in June,

(48:16):
in late May, and folks, it doesn't matter what the
analytics say as a boxer. If you're never the champ,
you're not in the conversation of greatest or second greatest.
It doesn't matter if you have the most knockouts, you
have the best punch ratio, you land the most punches,
you got to hold the belt, or you're not in
the conversation. Dan Marino's arguably the greatest pure passer in
football history, it's not in the conversation the greatest. And

(48:40):
right now, there are four words that sum up James
Harden's career based on the data. Those are not best
ever words. That's how you sum up James Harden's career
based on the data. Nobody wants to hear that we're

(49:03):
going to pass the greatest player in the torch from Lebron.
It may have just been passed to k D. And
then if Jannis wins a couple maybe it'll be honest.
But we're not talking Yannis great until he wins the title.
And by the way, Katie wasn't even in the conversation
until he won a couple, and Lebron's leaving that conversation

(49:24):
because he can now can't make the playoffs. So I
don't need data to describe Durant. I don't need data
to describe Michael Jordan or Lebron or Kobe or Shack.
I don't need data for any of those guys. Okay,
if you start talking about your op B, yes you
know me, and you go baseball stats. Mickey Mannell could play.

(49:46):
I don't need data. I don't need any data. Mike
Trout can play. I don't need his batting average. I
don't care what Derek Jeter's batting average was. I don't
care about Rod Carew's Tony Gwynn. He could hit. Wade Boggs.
They could hit. You start moving into the data stuff.
You're out in the conversation for at least for greatest

(50:07):
player ever. Uh. Okay, Stephen Jackson, Marcus Thompson, Albert Brier,
Jason McIntire. These Friday shows, do we have time out
as Baker and OBJ apologize? Yet? Could you check Twitter
real quick? Not seeing anything? Yet your social team is
on it. Double check they're anxiously awaiting the apology. I

(50:33):
go out every day just grind out a show. That's
all I do. All right, I'm gonna have to get
over it. I don't have a choice another restless night
of sleep. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Last night, wildly,

(50:55):
wildly entertaining game, Portland had it and lost it. Stephen
Jackson his course, joining me. Fourteen NBA seasons, four Warriors,
three Spurs, four Spurs, some pacers, some Bobcats. Who cares? Rest? Now,
let's get into this. You got a bigger ring there.
I was talking about this. I'm not anti three ball,
I'm not. But these are athletes, not slide rulers. And

(51:21):
last night, late in the game, Golden State didn't shoot
a ton of threes. They went and got buckets. Portland,
with a lead, just kept firing up threes, and slowly
the champions just got a bucket. And it's fascinating. I'm
not I call them analytics. Men late in games get buckets.
I don't care about the math. I think math works

(51:43):
over eighty two game season but I'm watching that game
at the end, and I love watching Golden State. They're
so smart. When you were playing for the Warriors, Take
me inside the way the mind works of this because
everybody thinks they're just a bunch of three balls. They
were eighth in the league, and that's what Steph Clant

(52:03):
and Durant. They were eighth. Analytically they were seventeenth compared
to Houston one. Take me inside the brain power of that. Well,
when the good thing, it's easy for me because you
have to have that dominant player that's at it, even
killed all time, at all times, that that doesn't get rattled.
That's Steph Curry and you played with Duncan and stuff. Yes,

(52:26):
and that's what the similarities that have. When you see
Kad and Draymond argument or when you see Draymond mad
because he didn't get it past something, you never see
Clay in that mix. He's always, i mean, you never
see stuff in that mix. He's always the one on
the side at it, even killed, focused on the game,
ready to make the next play, trying to keep everybody
else focused and not really getting involved until the nonsens

(52:48):
on the court. You need a guy like that now
it's very few teams that have a player and the
MVP when you lose a guy like Kadie that he
can fulfill. He can fill Kadi's role and still play
his own role. Without Katie in the game, step has
become the closer. So he's closing. Now He's not only
making big stats, but he's closing the game and he's

(53:10):
also making plays. As we look at now, he's made
plays to win games. No team has a player that
can be that guy win Katie's off the court or
be that guy when Katie's on the court. Now, let
me say this too, Steph has more in this game
than James Harden. James is a great score he he
can't shoot me range. Steph can shoot me range, he
can shoot threes, he can make plays. He can do

(53:31):
it all. And people don't give steps problems like he's
not top four, top five player in the league. After
these last two games, I think people should start switching
to see why why people praise him like they do. So.
Darrel Moray was talking about James Harden calling him the
best player in the game. When you have one of
the top two players, and my takeaway is you can
be you can knock a lot of guys out in
the boxing game. Gotta have a belt at least once, right,

(53:55):
or you're not in the conversation, right, just one of
those guys that one an MVP, one of those guys
that knock people out. Right, You're gonna have the best,
biggest i mean, pay per view numbers can be through
if you don't hold the belt at some point, you're
not in the conversation with Muhammad Ali. You're just not
not not at all. And to me, I look at
James Harden and I'm like talented, but right, And that's

(54:17):
how a lot of players player. This is one thing
about players, Okay, And I'm gonna I'm gonna make a
lot of people understand this. Everybody in the NBA makes money.
Everybody has the same cars, same jewelry, same clothes, same everything.
Same house is just in a different state. It's just
built by a different guy. Everybody has the same jury,

(54:39):
it's just from a different jeweler. Right. What separates you
it's being the best in the world, because everybody can't
say that. So for James, you're gonna be a great score.
You're gonna be somebody that's dominated regular seasons, but you're
not gonna be one of the best players because you're
not winning. The best players to me in this league
Steph Curry, kd Ron Kawhi, these guys are champions. Lebron

(55:04):
went to the finalist nine straight time, eight straight times.
That's being great. That's been one of the best. So players,
the best reward is to be able to say at
the end of the season that I was the best
in the world. And until you do that, then the
players gonna look at you to say if Charles Barkley
wasn't so funny on television, because Charles Barkley, to me,
is one of the greatest players I've ever seen. He

(55:25):
could he could score low, he could score outside, he
could score in transition. There's about seven guys in league
history that could do that. He's He's what Zion shit
look to be. Yeah, no, I mean, Charles was amazing,
But if he wasn't great on TV and just golf,
now he'd be we would never talk about Charles Barkley.
And by the way, that's the hardened and Harden's not
going to be as great on TV as Barkley. Barkley's

(55:47):
made himself relevant, but he would be what he would
be much less relevant if it wasn't for the fact
that he has a huge, funny, giving, loving personality and
kar Malone because where's Karmelone now? Right? And he was
just can lead these all time. Don't talk about we
don't talk about him at all because he didn't win.
John Stockton assist leader. We don't talk about him because

(56:09):
he's never won. What do you play the game for?
Are you playing for money? Of course it's gonna take
a your family, but you play to win. You played
to be a champion. The narrative has chained of why
people play basketball, and it's not the same. And I
think war players these days are interested in what the
game can do for him, then care about actually love
the game and care about being a champion. I feel

(56:29):
Steph Curry does he know he wants to be the
best ever? You know, it's interesting if you think about.
Let's think about right now, the dynasties in our life.
New England led by Brady Spurs, led by Duncan, Warriors
led by staff at least emotionally Brady Duncan staff, Yes,
no nonsense, not big emotion all coachable. And this is

(56:55):
what I tell the Baker Mayfields of the world. Dude,
all this grabbing your stuff, that's not what endures. If,
like Stephen, you just said this, when when the fit
hits the sham, when everything's going sideways, when Draymond's fighting Duncan,
Brady Staff, they're like Russell Wilson's got this in Seattle. Yes,

(57:16):
the cooler, Yes, they just bring the temperature in the
room down. Like I don't think players get because by
the way, I want Draymond on my team. I need
a fighter. Well we need but see, guys like me
and Draymond we know, we know we're not Tim Duncan
and Steph Curry, We're not even trying to be that.
But we need a Steph Curry and Tim Duncan on
the side of us to make us have the best
careers because they know how to pull us back and
let us be us when it needs. So. You knew

(57:38):
when you were playing for a Golden State of the
Spurs that you had the kind of personality that you
could be, let you could get, you could you had
a fuse and you were aware of that. And I
use it to my advantage a lot, because to be honest,
I started a lot of stuff. I've never been in
any fights in games besides the broad course, but in
the game, I've never been in the fight to reasons.

(58:01):
One day knew I was gonna fight, but they they
didn't and they didn't want to lose no money. But two,
I knew that if I pushed that line, that nine
out attended the guys and then they would back down,
and they did, and I used that to my advantage.
So I came into a lot of games with that
adde of or the attitude where either I'm an win
the game, I'm gonna win the fight. And that's the

(58:23):
attitude I had every night, and guys weren't willing to
go to every night. By the way, there's a there's
a lot of rumors Kad and Kyrie and Kawai and
it's just ridiculous, right, It's fine. I mean, I love
it so soap opera. If I said to you, take
all these free agent guys, Jimmy Butler or this or this, this,
there's a million rumors, I just want one. Which one

(58:44):
do you feel safest about will happen? Of all the rumors,
guys moving If I said, Steve one, Katie, I think Katie.
Stand that's your strongest even after what you're watching right now.
I think Katie, Katie's not bothered that the world that
they're winning. You don't think so. The game six, you
see posted the pictures celebrating at home. He didn't have

(59:05):
to post that. If he was bitter, he wouldn't have
posted that. Game two against Portland, Whitlocke said something. Why
he didn't posting that. The game one with Whitlocke, I
hope you're looking. He was at the game, congratulating the team,
running down, coming back to the locker room after a
big win. He's not worried about that. This and this
is the main reason why when he comes back, he

(59:25):
has an opportunity to be a three time champion with
three MVPs on a person done as Jordan three times
in a row. He has at the end of the season.
Do you know the bag he's getting. He's gonna get
a big bag with a lot of blue strips in it. Okay,
he's not worrying about nothing. And at the same time,
while I'm not playing, while I'm thinking about this big
contract and this championships that I'm about to play in,

(59:47):
y'all talking about me and I'm not even playing. He's
not worried about nothing. He's still he's still in everybody
made he on the sideline. That's how I want to be.
I don't have to be around for you to talk
about me. But one thing about it. They're not a
championship team today without Katie you have five years ago
they were. But this is the same team that lost,
that was up three one and lost to Lebron. Well,
this team also didn't have the bench. I think short term,

(01:00:10):
I said this earlier. You could argue they're more fun
and they and they cut and pass better. Yes, but
over time, when you have the world's best chef, you
need that big dog for long term. You know, I
always said this. I always had this theory. I'm I'm
not smart, but I'm smart enough. You could put me.
I could run Apple to come first team. Common sense,
we both want first team. All commiscens we are. Yes, Okay,

(01:00:32):
I am the shooting guard, you're the power. No, you're
the three guard. You get fight, so I just kid around. Okay,
So I'm smart enough. You could put me into a
company and I could run it for six weeks. Just
common sense stuff, right, But over six months, I'd ruin
Apple and over six years I devastated. Is that you
can win six games without kd yes and for six

(01:00:56):
weeks you can bail water. But over the core of
six months, he is. He is a finisher, the most efficient,
and you're gonna STEP's gonna miss three games, and Clay
gets sick and Draymond goes into a three week slump.
Step has an ankle problem, and Katie's there and he's
the finisher, So you can, you can. There's a lot

(01:01:17):
of times Nick Fole's short term won a Super Bowl
of Philadelphia. Over the course of ten years, Carson Wentz
is gonna win more games. Nick is Katie. Nick Foles
is Katie in Philadelphia though, well, no, because Katie's an
all time player. Nick Foles is so so Katie's all
time stuff. Nick Foles is Okay, he played, he played
like Katie in those Super Bowls. Yeah, but historically, you know,

(01:01:41):
we all know that over the course of time, you
just want more good players in the locker, right, But
you can do a lot of things in life short
term without a superstar. You can do a lot of stuff.
Stephen Jackson, a veteran newsman, John goulet. No, no turn
on the news. This is the herd Line News. So Colin,
it's pretty clear the Pelicans would prefer not to trade

(01:02:02):
Anthony Davis to the Lakers because you know, they believe
the Lakers kind of manipulated the situation, got him to
force a trade. Didn't want to deal with them. However,
the Pelicans hatred of the Lakers may actually be stronger
than we thought. What this is according to ESPN's Jackie mcmullins,
so a very reliable source. Apparently Gail Benson may have
put her foot down about this. The owner of the Pelicans,

(01:02:23):
Jackie McCallan said this, we've been told, I think through
channels most of us have heard the same scuttle butt
that Gail Benson has basically told him. David Griffin to
the Lakers over my dead body. Now. This is what
we said three days ago, and there was a lot
of pushback from NBA sources that David Griffin has a
free reign. Gail Benson, just think about this, Think about

(01:02:44):
the city she run. So she owns the Pelicans and
the Saints. Right, let me ask you who did the
Saints lose to the La Rams And thought of that. Okay,
So they're a little sensitive in New Orleans about LA,
the Chris Paul situation. Who's been bashing him for years
on that the LA Lakers, what team ripped the Pelicans

(01:03:07):
and their competency during the trade deadline. LA, It's not
a Lakers thing, it's an LA thing. New Orleans is
got a they got a chip a mile long on
the vibe out here on Lebraun, on magic, on Chris
Paul and Gail Benson is best be honest. Her income

(01:03:27):
is derived from the Saints and the Pelicans. Those fans
do not want to see Anthony Davis traded to Los Angeles,
and especially the Knicks are going to offer a better
pick anyway, I think. So you're unless they come in
with a horrible offer, You're basically gonna take the better
deal regardless, and you get to not trade him to
the Lakers, which is what the fans really want. Listen,

(01:03:48):
Lonzo Ball was having a very interesting season. If he
doesn't get hurt, and Lonzo Ball because he was playing
well with Lebron. If Lonzo Ball doesn't get hurt, and
I say, Kuzma, Lonzo in a bunch of pick, that's interesting.
When Lonzo Ball got hurt. I had an executive tell
me he's got to have an eighty game schedule season

(01:04:08):
or like he's off the block. People aren't interested in
the dad and he can't stay healthy. Like Lonzo needs
an eighty one game season. He has spent the last
two years hobbled, and when he got hurt, his value
in the market. Lonzo Ball deteriorated significantly. So there's no

(01:04:28):
doubt that these Celtics had a very disappointing season, especially
for certain radio hosts that may have picked them to
beat the Warriors in the finals. Now, one of their owners,
with Grossbeck, talked about this year's struggles. We're all annoyed
and upset and disappointed. I feel like there was a
mismatch between the talent that we had on paper in

(01:04:52):
the way that it was expressed on the court, the
actual and the potential. There was a cap pretty frustrating
for everybody concerned, not least of all the players. It
was one of the hardest teams to love from my standpoint.
That's definitely. They were not a fun team to watch.
They despite the talent, they were not fun. Where do
they go from here? I'll go back to this, Kyrie

(01:05:16):
leaves and you get nothing. Al Horford, Gordon Hayward, Jason
Tatum will revert back to his rookie year when ky Yeah,
Jayson Tatum was fine. Kyrie didn't help his game. He
hurt his game. Terry Rosier, Marcus Smart, Brad Stevens. They'll
draft somebody. Boston's gonna be fine. They'll be a top

(01:05:37):
three team. People are forgetting this. So that Jayson Tatum
had a great rookie year and then this year he
had moments, but he deteriorated in the playoffs. Do you
don't think Kyrie was part of that. Kyrie leaves, he
gets more looks. I mean, people just live in the moment.
They're like, oh, Jayson Tatum isn't good, So you want
me to believe he was great as a rookie and
now he's bad. No, Kyrie didn't work with Jason Tatum.

(01:05:58):
He he shrinks around Kyrie. So Tatum will go back up.
Gordon habr was getting better. Al Horford, Terry Rosier, Jalen Brown,
draft another guy. It's a top six team in the league.
They're fine. And finally, last night, the Phillies were blown
out by the Brewers. Eleven to three Andrey, how Bryce

(01:06:19):
Harper do? So just a quick update on the thirteen year,
three hundred and thirty million dollar guy. Yeah, he is
hitting two twenty one this season. Oh, how's he doing
in May? One eighty in May and leads the NL
in strikeouts. Oh, but I'm Philadelphia. Was when I came
out and said this is going to be a disaster.
He's a home run hitter with a massive contract, so
he's not a contact guy. He strikes out a lot.

(01:06:41):
When you give these home run hitters these massive deals,
it gets into their head and they deteriorate. And what
do you know, Now, Mike Trout's different. Mike just hits
the ball, gets on base, great glove, can run his game.
There's a lot of components to his game. So you
can give Mike Trout a lot of money. Robinson Canoe
is saying, But when you give a power hitter that
kind of money and they're expected to hit forty seven Jackson, Philadelphia,

(01:07:03):
this stuff is in Bryce Harper's head. Well here's what's
interesting though, too. So he's playing poorly. They're in first place. Yeah,
so how important was it to sign him? By the way,
the Astros and the Dodgers have the money and said, nah,
push back, two best teams in baseball arguably right now, Well,
don't worry. There's only two thousand and sixty three games
left on Bryce Harper's contract, so yeah, almost done. Yeah, Philadelphia,

(01:07:28):
this is just twelve and a half more years of
this stuff. It's as I predict that it's never gonna
last twelve years. No way, he'll be out of there
in four. Veteran newsman John Goolay, well, that's the news,
the herd line news. This is kind of predictable. But

(01:07:48):
I think it's interesting. Every time the Patriots win a
Super Bowl, Oh, they're gonna nobody will ever beat him.
And every time they lose the Super Bowl, oh, the
dynasty is over. So they just won a super Bowl
and so this this is interesting. NFL odds came out
CG Technology oddsmakers. Here's the Patriots schedule against the spread,

(01:08:11):
and we were able to confirm the first number, Patriots
minus six and a half against the Steelers. We got
a second source that had New England as a six
point favorite at home against the Steelers. Look at these numbers.
New England's a ten point favored over the Jets, an
eleven point favored over the Giants, an eight and a

(01:08:32):
half point favorite over the Super Bowl bound Browns, a
six point favored over the Cowboys, and a field goal
favorite over the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, they do face
the Browns Kansas City in Pittsburgh in New England, but
fifteen of the sixteen weeks they're favored. The only time
they're not, the Patriots are a slight underdog, getting one

(01:08:54):
at Philadelphia, which is what it should be. Interesting. There
was six and a half point favored over Pittsburgh and
then eight and a half point favored over Super Bowl
bound Cleveland. How's that possible? Cleveland's going to the Super Bowl?
How is it possible? How about that? Though? For the record,

(01:09:15):
I do not think they're going fifty and one. I'll
predict eleven and five. I do think they're more athletic
than last year. I was surprised they won the Super
Bowl last year. I don't. I didn't think they had
the roster of the Chargers the Chiefs. I didn't think
they had the roster of the Rams or Philadelphia or Dallas.
By the way, but how's that possible? They're favored by

(01:09:39):
eight and a half over the Browns because the Browns
are going to the Super Bowl. So update Baker and
OBJ apologize. Yet not yet, I haven't received anything terribly disappointing.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific Tomorrow on Fox. It's
a great night of baseball. Most of the country will
see two of the most powerful the lineups in baseball

(01:10:01):
is Carlos Korea and the Astros take on Mookie Bets
and the Red Sox. Others will see the Cubs battle
the Nationals or Brewers and Braves. It all starts at
seven Eastern on Fox. Check local listings for the game
in your area. Yeah, Astro's playing great right now. M
Drives a supplement I've used. You should too, Stronger, more
energy drive. Go to mdriverman dot com. rEFInd your prime
with M drive. You know, I'm going to dinner tomorrow

(01:10:21):
night with Doug Gottlieban his beautiful wife. Tomorrow. I'm really
going out big this weekend, just all weekend crazy stuff.
Let me let me let me just say this. Now
New Orleans thinks I hate them. This happens all the time.
The small towns, Green Bay thinks I hate him Cleveland. No,
I don't let me support Gayl Benson. Here. She owns
the Saints and the Pelicans. Okay, I get her not

(01:10:47):
wanting to trade Anthony Davis to Los Angeles after what
happened to the Saints in Los Angeles. Now, you say
to yourself, ones football ones basketball fans are fanatics. They
can't see straight eight. Gayl Benson sells tickets. Her livelihood,
her legacy, her culture is based on selling things to

(01:11:08):
regular people in New Orleans, regular citizens. They don't like
LA they don't like the NFL, they don't like the Rams,
they don't like the Lakers. They don't want like what
the Lakers said about him. I get it, I get
the story out. Gail Benson today is like, over my
dead body, are we trading Anthony Davis to the Lakers?
I get it. That's her business, that's where her money

(01:11:30):
comes from. And she's like, look, you can trade them
to anywhere, You're not trade him to the Lakers. So
I'll I'll just throw that out at there. I will
support Gail on that. Does it seem to me, you know,
a little parochial? Yeah, but sometimes parochial. I get it well.
He's a lead columnist for The Athletic in the Bay Area.

(01:11:52):
He wrote the book on Steph Golden. He has now
just come out with his new book on Kevin Durant.
It has been released. Go to Amazon dot com Minds
on the Way. It's called k D Kevin Durant's Lentless
Pursuit to Be the Greatest. It is out, Go to
Amazon order it, and Marcus Thompson is joining us. Let
me start with this Marcus Situationally, last night they were

(01:12:16):
so good, they are so smart, they are so patient.
I'll just throw this out. Everybody thinks all they do
is chuck threes. That was Portland last night. With a
lead they trailed in the last six minutes, they just
went and got the best shots. Talk a little bit
about we think all they do is shoot threes. They
were only eighth in the NBA this year in shooting threes.

(01:12:40):
Have they transformed a little offensively? No question? Remember, Remember
their advantage used to be that they shot threes where
everybody shot twos, right, and now everybody's just chucking all
these threes, and the Warriors are like working to get
backdoor layups and meet Rainy's jumpers right, So it's kind
of weird, which is one of the reasons why they've
they've lost, like at home, because another team just gets

(01:13:01):
hot and they don't answer with fifty threes. But in
the playoff setting, this is why they do it, because
you need to be able to get a good shot
and you can't just get a shot, and they show
that like they work and to get the shot that
they need. And also they play incredible defense. I mean
they just they turned off to speaking on Portland last

(01:13:22):
night a team that was hot too, Like it wasn't
like they were they were cool, they were feeling it
and then suddenly it was nothing. You know, Steve Kerr,
it reminds me a little of Joe Tory back in
the late ninety Yankees. You knew he had the best roster,
but the key for Joe Tory was he a rod
could get along with Jeter when he later came to
New York. That it was more than just the excess

(01:13:43):
and ohs, it was the development of relationships and the
trust with star players. Listen Steve Kerr's winning games and
Kd's not playing. Do you think Kurr right now is
massage and Kad a little bit, because we all know
Golden States got the best roster. But when you're winning
without Kate, and we know KD can be sensitive, what's
it's Kurt doing something behind the scenes to make sure

(01:14:04):
this thing, you know, isn't landing wrong for KD. I
actually think they all are. And I don't know if
the purpose is too like smoothed over KD. But the
last like month, they've been in this real like kind
of komba y'ah spirit, right, like they're all love eve.
They're loving each other. You see last night at at
halftime or down fifteen and Katie's in the hall greeting them,

(01:14:26):
like picking up their spirits. But we've heard over the
last month since Katie dropped fifty after saying you know
who I am. We've heard Steve Kerr call him the
best player in the game. We've heard Steph Curry call
him the best player in the game. We've heard Draymond
Green say he's our leader. We've heard Clay say it's
not even the same without him. Like they're all in
this space of feel good and good vibe and one

(01:14:50):
is a team, Like it's really kind of like sappy basketball, right,
It's that it's it's it's very spirited with them, So
I don't know if it's like if it's choreograph or
if it's just the organic natural result of a tumultuous
season and them saying, let's get it together for this
last run. Marcus Thompson's got a new book out. Go
to Amazon dot com and buy it. It's called k

(01:15:12):
D Kevin Drant's Relentless Pursuit to be the Greatest. He
wrote Golden The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry. I will
say this, Draymond can wear me out, but god do
I love him in the playoffs. He is the one
guy Marcus that it feels like he is more important
without k D. It does feel like that to me.

(01:15:33):
I don't know what the stats say, but talk a
little bit about the Draymond we see when Katie doesn't play.
I think it's like a lot of them. But I
think when Draymond is playing center and he knows like
it's all on him, it just brings out like that
sagamall comes out of him like he's a monster. Man.
It's unbelievable. I really think people miss what is happening.

(01:15:57):
And I know he doesn't get like the crazy blocks right,
and his numbers are are so mild. But to watch
one dude guard two people regularly and efficiently, it's just nuts.
It's crazy the way he can shut down the paint.
And he's six foot seven like he's he's a monster.
And you know, when Durant's there, he's the backup rim protector.

(01:16:19):
He's coming out of nowhere. But when Draymond Green knows
it's all on him and he's locked in, I mean,
you gotta go back, way back to the old school
to find a better defender than him. Now we're talking
about Katie's injury. Is there an update on Boogie cousins,
because I don't think they can go. I'm very interested
to see how they do without size KD and Boogie

(01:16:40):
in Portland. That place is a tough place to win.
What do we know about Boogie's injury. Boogie's actually closer
than KD. Like he's he's he's returned to encourt work.
We can see we see him in practice, getting shots up,
working on post move. I mean he's running pretty gingerly, right,
He's not. He doesn't look like he's ready to go
out and play a food court game, but he's actually

(01:17:01):
doing things. I don't think Katie has done anything yet.
I think he's still just getting treatment and trying to
get the pain out the way. I'm with you, though,
I feel like they need something, like, especially when you
go into Milwaukee, you go into Toronto, I don't think
you should just be down two starters and it's all good.
So they need somebody back. I'm imagining that. I couldn't

(01:17:22):
even see Cousins coming back if this series is expective,
if it goes like six to seven, that Cousins might
come back for that, I think, Kad, I think he's
done to the finals. Finally, I'm not asking you to
be a psychologist, but you probably I'm good at it. Though.
I'm like, I stayed at the holiday and expressing everything.
But Kad, you're bumping into him. He's not playing Warriors

(01:17:43):
or winning. What does he look like? What does he
feel like? Last couple of days here, I think he's
feeling good. I mean, the dude has all the options
in the world, and he's got a team that's out
there like trying to win for him so he can
get back on the court. Look here, here's what we know.
He loves basketball and he loves being on the court.
So I know he's kind of like probably exhausted with

(01:18:06):
this not playing business. Right. I know he's frustrated from
not playing because no matter what has happened in his life,
he's always found the basketball court to be a sanctuary.
But I do feel like it's very noticeable. And they
talk about all the time how he's kind of taking
that leadership role, cheerleading role while he's out like doing
stuff like waiting for them outside of the locker room

(01:18:27):
and speaking up a team meetings. I think I'm telling you,
I think he's in the best place and they're all
in the best place that they've been all year. Wow,
how about that? Okay, here's the buck. I'll show you
the cover, Kevin Durant's relentless pursuit to be the Greatest.
There's the book. Marcus Thompson, we put him on recently
lead columnists the Athletic. Go buy it. I don't ask

(01:18:49):
you very often to go buy a buck, but I
got mine ordered and ready to go. Marcus. Absolute pleasure,
my man, anytime, anytime. You're my homie. All right, good stuff.
He is a little psychologist. He's pretty good. He got
old Sigmund Freud there working there. He knows it. Let
me go back to I don't have much time on this,
this Gayl Benson thing. So we're seeing stories now or

(01:19:10):
Gayl Benson and there's conflicting reports. She's like, we're not
trading to the Lakers. I'm want to support her on this.
I get it. Okay, Saints Pelicans, two teams in that market. Okay.
She not. She don't want to have Anthony Davis playing
in the West. She'd rather move to New York. You
don't have any problem with in New York. In fact,
Gayle Benson probably has a place in New York. She

(01:19:32):
probably goes to New York all time. Ye rich people,
billionaires do go shop and go hang Christmas. It's fun.
She may just not. I get the LA New Orleans
thing here, and the Pelicans have Zion. They make a
deal with the Knicks and they get RJ. Barrett. You

(01:19:54):
got two Dukies, you get draft picks. I gotta tell you,
that's pretty that's pretty good. Like I totally and we
know this. That Anthony Davis, we know he'll play in
LA or New York. I think the Lakers not only
have to beat the next they'd have to blow the

(01:20:14):
Knicks away with an offer. And when Lonzo Ball got
hurt and his value decreased, I don't think they have
the pieces Hour three, next, one More Herd. 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'd like. All Right, welcome back, Albert

(01:20:35):
Brears around the corner. Jason McIntyre, you know I love him.
There's a couple of massive a couple of massive stories,
you know the NFL. This week the Jets fired their
GM and that it looks like utter chaos for Sam Darnold.
Then you got the O b J situation like he's
been there three days out of sixty five in Cleveland,
so delusional, you know, move along, nothing to see here

(01:20:58):
sixty five days. Coaches like he needs to get his
mind right. There's nothing to see here. God, you finished
in third place. You got yourself on the Super Bowl.
Get a grip. Like everybody at the league's like, what
is going on with OBJ? I can like a guy,
but know that there's a lot of drama here. This
is why the New York Giants moved off the most

(01:21:19):
popular player in the last ten years in the franchise.
This is why this stuff so doesn't mean he's not talented,
but between the injuries and the drama, Giants are like,
we're getting out. And for the record, I thought it
was a it was a break for him. Get him
with a quarterback going into his prime or in his prime,
get the numbers up, and I think it will eventually
it'll work well. I do believe that. There's also I

(01:21:43):
gotta tell you that the NBA story that's heating up,
the one that's it's coming down, and I've got two
techs now on this too from NBA people. I trust
this Anthony Davis going to the Lakers thing. I don't
think Gail Benson, the owner of the Pelicans, is into
that at all. She wants Anthony Davis to stay or

(01:22:07):
move him to the East with New York. Now, again,
it depends does David Griffin, the general manager, now the
guy running the Pelicans. Does he like him? We know
he's got zion and he loves him. Does he like RJ. Barrett,
which I do. I think he's a really night He'll
come into the league. Hill score he's a better version
of Rodney Hood. That's what I see. Little left hander

(01:22:27):
get to the basket average about eighteen to twenty points,
maybe more. Some think he's got a James Harden quality.
But that's the stories that are now percolating. Anthony Davis,
Gail Benson not trading him to the Lakers, and with that,
senior NFL reporter, lead content strategist, Monday Morning Quarterback and
our friend Albert Brier. Albert, let's start with this the

(01:22:49):
jet situation. You got a column this week on the
whole New York situation. You know, you look at it
from the outside and you think, good lord, you had
the draft and free agency. Why didn't you just fire
the general manager before that? What did you make of
the whole mess? I just think it's an owner who
is a little win over his keys right now, Colin,

(01:23:10):
I mean, I you know, look, Christopher Johnson has been
there for about two years now, and you know, I
think that you know, initially, he didn't want to go
into this with the idea that he was gonna be
solely responsible for remaking the entire operation. They didn't want
to fire everybody, and so you know, he winds up

(01:23:31):
keeping the general manager and then you know, over time,
I think it became kind of clear that the general
manager and the coach weren't a good match. I think
on both ends there were issues with people taking charge.
The head coach has had acted you know, a little
passive aggressively in the past, and Miami that reputation followed him,
and you know, it's sort of what a lot of

(01:23:53):
the people in the building you observed from Adam Gas
over the last four months. And then you had a
general manager who just wasn't decisive enough and so there
wasn't a strong decision maker in the room that became apparent,
and the way there's a plan unfolded over the last
four months, I think, really where the you know, where
the problem is an ownership here isn't so much that

(01:24:13):
they didn't fire Mike mccagnan in January. It's that they
didn't identify this problem early in the partnership, make sure
that it was at least taped together. You know, Scott's
taped together over the last three months. You know, instead
now what they what they have is, you know Dmawood
full control of free agency? Is Dmwood full control of

(01:24:34):
the draft? And who was now gone, and they've got
a head coach who has very little investment on any
player in the building, including the ones who are just
brought in, and so it's a mess. I think there
are absolutely some VM candidates out there who told me
that they would be very, very cautious about even considering
taking that job. And you know, again, this points back

(01:24:56):
to the one thing that any coach or any KM
can't change in that ownership. Yeah, let's shift to a
story that developed yesterday. I know that Odell Beckham Cleveland
was not his first choice. I mean he's got he's
got a messy Ronaldo International iconic field to him. I
mean he is really he is global, and not many

(01:25:18):
NFL guys are. And I know he didn't want to
go to Cleveland and everybody knows that, right, we can
confirm that. But he ends up in Cleveland, the coach
said yesterday after he showed up for an OTA and
then left. He's basically been in Cleveland three out of
sixty five days and he doesn't have his mind right yet.
How am I not concerned with that? It's sixty five
days since the trade. Isn't that kind of you know?

(01:25:38):
I said this yesterday. Isn't that kind of why the
Giants let him go? This the above the shoulders stuff
and the drama. Yeah, I mean it was drama the
last two springs too. I mean remember, you know, two
years ago, you know, there was the whole basically quiet
boycott of the Giants offseason program. Then last year to
try to make a madness for everything to get a contract.

(01:25:59):
He did show up, and now he's got the contract.
In the next spring he's not showing up. So yeah,
I certainly think that it just takes certain books. All
this stuff's voluntary, but it certainly takes on a different
context and feel when you're new in a place and
you're one of the highest paid players in the place.
Nodell Beckham is both right now similar to Leveon Bell

(01:26:19):
with the Jets, and so you know, I think in
those sorts of situations, every other player in the locker
room is watching how the team handles you. If you're
allowed certain things, other people in the building are going
to expect to be allowed certain things too, and it
can create some issues in that way. I will say this,
I think the bet for the ground isn't even so
much on Freddy Kitchens or Baker Mayfield working with Odell Beckham.

(01:26:43):
It's the relationship with Jarvis Plandry. And if you talk
to people who've known Beckham's at LSU, but they'll tell
you is back then in college, those two guys kept
each other have walked in mainly because when they walked
into that receiver group, when they walked into that receiver
room and baton rouge, you didn't know who the best
receiver was on any given day, and so they were

(01:27:03):
competitive with one another, They pushed one another, they kept
one another locked in. So I think that's a big
part of the baton of the brown. You know, there's
a lot of pressure on Friday to get this right.
There's obviously a lot of pressure on Baker to play
really really well considering the circumstances. I think, what what
the what the Browns are really hoping is that a
big piece of this is going to be Jarvis Landry
help to keep the buddy locked in, all right. Albert

(01:27:25):
Brere m MQB on a Friday, stops wire for a
couple of minutes on the Jets mess and the situation
developing in Cleveland. Albert, great talking to you. Thank you.
Thay Colin. By the way, I want to address this
story and it's a real story. This is really interesting.
So NBA executives are worried according to a report that

(01:27:48):
Anthony Davis and Kyrie could end up with the Lakers.
I don't think it's going to happen, but this is
a report that's out today from Ian Bagley of s
n Y. Lebron on Anthony Davis, Kyrie. We've talked about
k D to the Knicks is good for the NBA.
Here's a nightmare scenario. The Eastern Conference finals Toronto Milwaukee

(01:28:11):
are down twenty five percent. And one of the reasons
isn't just the lack of Lebron, although that's the primary reason.
It's that the Eastern Conference doesn't have as many stars
as the Western Conference, and stars drive the NBA. It's
very much like international soccer. Stars drive it. And I
was writing down this morning, here's the nightmare scenario for

(01:28:31):
the NBA. The best fourteen players in the NBA, in
my opinion, k D, Staff, Kawhi, Lebron, Jannis Mbad, Hardened Westbrook, Kyrie, Irving,
the joker in Denver, Damian Lillard, Clay Thompson, Anthony Davis
and Paul George. Only four of those currently play in
the East, Janis Mbad, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi. It should

(01:28:54):
also be noted that Zion and John Morant, the most
interesting rookies, also just got drafted into the Western Conference.
So ten of the fourteen best players are in the West.
Zion and John Morant end up in the West. There's
a story today that Anthony Davis is Laker bound or

(01:29:15):
they'll try to keep him. Kawai appears to be leaning
La Clippers, and rumors now Kyrie would consider West. That
would be twelve of the fourteen best players in the West,
plus Zion and John Morant. If Katie doesn't leave the Warriors,

(01:29:38):
the nightmare scenarios kd either stays West or joins Kawhi
Leonard with the Clippers, which people say would be his
number two destination after the Knicks. So it's getting lob setted.
This is what's happened to college football where all the
best college football has played in the South. Clemson, Bama, Georgia, Georgia, Clemson, Bama, George, Bama, Clemson.

(01:30:05):
The sports numbers are going down, like you do need
some geographical balance, and if Kade stays West and Anthony
Davis the Pelicans talk him into staying, and Kyrie Bolts.
I didn't even mention Jimmy Butler. There's a lot of
rumors if Jimmy Butler, I know loves LA because every
time I about at a restaurant, I see Jimmy Butler

(01:30:26):
in the NBA off season in LA. He's out here
all the time in Hollywood and hanging out, so that
symmetry matters. Also, the two best young teams in the
NBA look to be Dallas and Denver. They're both West.
Dallas got a cooking now with Luca and Porzingis, and
Denver's all sorts of good and Zion now is out West.

(01:30:49):
If Toronto loses Kawhi and Boston loses Kyrie and the Knicks,
they already didn't get Zion. I'm just saying you have
a problem. It's not just about parody. It dynasties don't
kill ratings. You gotta have some college football is going
through this. All the best players they are, they are
Chicago East and South. Pact twelve feels like the Mountain

(01:31:12):
West Conference, not even competitive nationally. Veteran newsman John Goula
this is the herd Line news. So Colin, the Lakers
may have a contingency plan if that doesn't happen and
they strike out with everybody, Well, what what time out?

(01:31:32):
Where'd you hear this? This is according to NBC Sports Washington,
Washington DC. You're gonna like this? What what? Wizard shooting
guard Bradley Beale could be a trade target if they
cannot lure any big free agent. Okay, that's my guy.
I knew you'd like. I love Bradley be a most
underrated gay. He had to play with a you know,
goofy John Wall. So he's averaging twenty two a game,

(01:31:53):
he'd be twenty six. Have you put him with Lebron?
Guy can shoot, good character, smart dude. So basically, if
Gail Benson is that report is true that she is
not going to allow a trade of Anthony Davis to
the Lakers, so it could instead trade that pick for
Bradley Beale. Wizards need to rebuild. They're trapped under the
John Wall contract for a long time. He might not

(01:32:13):
even play next year. So you're the biggest fan of
Bradley Beale in the national media, probably the only one. No, no, no,
And so the Lakers could say, listen, we'll give you
Kyle Kuzma. We'll give you Lonzo Ball, so you've got
a guard in Kyle, will give you the four pick,
and then Texas Techs got a kid. But that's all Tella.

(01:32:34):
It hurts, But that's a rebuild. I mean they're not
even getting They're not even selling tickets and getting local
TV writings in DC. People are over this well a team.
The problem would be that you would ideally like to
sign someone and then use the pick to trade for
a third piece, not for a second piece, you know
what I mean. So I don't know that that's the
I think in the end, if it's just Lebron and

(01:32:55):
Bradley Beale, I don't know that Lakers fans would be
happy other than you, who would be ecstatic because you
could go watch your favorite player, Brodal play Lebron. Give
me twenty eight, eight and eight, Bradley Beale's twenty four
points a game with Lebron, and I can keep brandon Ingram. Okay,
that's those are players. That's a real team. I have
three guys that can shoot. I can keep Josh hard on.

(01:33:17):
It's really just a shooter, right, that's what they need.
Like Lebron desperately needs a shooter. Bradley Beale's a shooter
and he's also in great shape. The guy who's smart,
he works hard, He's a character guy. I think his
career has been somewhat suppressed by Wall who's tough to
play with. Sure, so you're just talking about Jimmy Butler. Yeah,
he's been rumored to go a lot of places, right,
They've talked about him going to the Knicks, going to

(01:33:38):
the Nets, maybe coming to the Lakers, and of course
the possibility of staying with the seventy sixers. However, he
posted something on Instagram yesterday that maybe could signal the
end of his time in Philly. Posted a photo of
himself in the seventy six ers jersey. The caption said
to Philly and my teammates, thank you. Now. He could

(01:34:00):
be thanking them for a good season that ended abruptly
in a very horrifying way. Or he could be saying,
it's been great Philly. I'm out. Am I reading too
much into it to think he's saying he's kind of
telling people he's not gonna stay. Oh my god. If
I went on the air tomorrow, and said tonight after
the show. And I just said to Fox Sports, thank you.

(01:34:21):
Am I coming back Monday? Or am I going to Hawaii?
You're not coming back? Okay, there you go, Fox executives.
If I ever say thank you on a Friday show,
you better start sending out resumes because you know what
that means. That's a thank you. I'm leaving the city.
So now, so now we can we Are you gonna
speculate Jimmy and Bradley Beale? Oh my god? So you

(01:34:42):
trade all these people? I get Bradley Beale and Jimmy Butler.
This feels almost certain why he didn't say goodbye, Philly,
Hello La. He just said thank you, let me take something.
If that's the backup plan. I get Bradley Beale and
Jimmy Butler. That's the backup plan. That's better than getting
Anthony Davis as the i'm ary plan. Those guys can
both hit a jumper. Yeah yeah, if you Bradley Beale,

(01:35:04):
Lebron and Jimmy Butler, those are the guys that can
hit a jumper. Well, and Jimmy. We can make up
for some of Lebron's lack of interest defensively. And then
you give Kyle Kuzma Lonzo Ball, I give Kyle Kuzman
brandon ingram Up I could get I'm bad. It's very
if they wouldn't have given away zoobots like a bunch
of dopes. This is you're very excited for these these
potential lakers for agents. And finally, before game two last

(01:35:27):
night the Western Conference Finals, the Warrior said Kevin Durant
not even traveling to Portland for Games three and four,
and Steve Kerr did not sound too optimistic about Durant. Hopefully, um,
he continues to progress, and he has made progress, but
you know, it's a little more more serious than then

(01:35:51):
we thought at the very beginning, and so we'll see
where it all goes. But he's in there all day
long getting treatment. He's done a great job of committing
himself to that process. Rick and his staff are in
there all day and hopefully he'll be back at some point.
I will just you know, we'll just wait and see.

(01:36:11):
I thought it was interesting last hour when Marcus Thompson
from the Bay Area told us that Boogie Cousins might
actually be closer to coming back. Kevin Durant. Yeah, we've
seen video at booge Cousins. Practically he's actually do you
know Durant really is just standing there. I kind of
thought this series was over when we talked about this before.
You seem to think that the Warriors still have to
beat the Blazers in Portland. I think Portland's one of

(01:36:34):
the three or four, you know Denver because of the altitude. Sure,
I think Portland's one of the tougher places in the
league to play. Do you think this this could actually
be a long series. It's not just gonna be No.
I think Portland's gonna win game three, Okay, at least five.
If I could get two good tickets, I think I'd
fly up for that. You'd fly up to Portland. What
time's game? You know? First of all, you know people,
you used to work in Portland. Second of all, you

(01:36:56):
could buy tickets. You can't get a ticket to that game.
That games hold out. I can't get a ticket to
that game. You could get a ticket to that game.
You're a beloved Portland personality, you know, sure someone. The
problem is, I got kids. I gotta be a parent.
Parenting sometimes tomorrow to figure out what to do with
your kids. Parenting is a buzz kill sometimes not a

(01:37:20):
terrible thing to say. Not a terrible guy. Uh. Veteran
newsman John goul Well, that's the news the Herdline. John
for years worked in France, Paris on the Eiffel Tower beat.
And we're glad to have John Goulay at Fox Sports. Okay,

(01:37:41):
you know, I love Jason McIntyre, who founded The Big Lead.
It's a website, so it's probably gonna be up for
about three more weeks before it dies. But those things
are all evaporating. But he's great. We bring him mom.
We call it tomorrow's headlines today, and he gives you
the four or five big stories and what will be
the headline tomorrow. He is bizarrely at you're it. He
is a soothsayer. He sees the future. Even though some

(01:38:04):
of his takes sound absurd, he lands a lot of them.
That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd Weekdays and nun Easter nine a Empacific. All right,
here we go, Chris Brusard, Stephen Jackson, Marcus Thompson at
the Athletic, Albert Brear stop by, it's my friend Jason
McIntyre at The Big Lead Dot com. You founded that
thing and then you sold it and made a bunch
of money, and now you kind of work on it

(01:38:25):
or done. What's it start? We've done with it. I
do a lot of FS one Fox Sports Radio. I
know that. So you're off that thing. Yeah? Yeah, you
know what. You're one of those media guys. You're one
of the smart ones. You get off stuff once you
see the world. You always say nice things about me.
I know. Is that standard operating procedures? No? Most media
people I can't stand. Hey, remember when I tech We
were texting earlier this week and I mentioned to you
we got an NBA player in our neighborhood who just

(01:38:47):
moved into Yeah, are we allow to say that on error? No?
I mean literally three or four blocks away. Who Manzo Ball?
He wants to be closer to the Lakers facility. So
you could be walking your dog, right, you walk your dog? Still?
Are you too big for that? Now? I walk my
dog all the time. And you might just say, hey, Lonzo,
how are you working on the jumper? Yeah, he's in
our neighborhood. Now we'll see. Uh. He could be trade bait.

(01:39:09):
We might get to by the way, as much as
I've criticized because I like Lonzo's game, but dude can't
stay healthy twenty one. But LaVar, by the way, LaVar
Ball does not dislike me, I have no problem. I mean,
LaVar wears me out, and I don't think he's made
the smartest moves, and I think a little come up
and with that last scandal. But in the end, there

(01:39:30):
are things about him that I'm okay with. So Baker
Mayfield doesn't like you, LaVar Ball likes you. You know, No, Baker,
Baker doesn't have the problem with me. He projects, right. Yeah,
Baker's just trying to, you know, sell stick. Yeah, yeah,
I'm coming here authentically. Baker's throwing a little stick out
there to sell tickets. Listen, if they go six and
ten this year, Baker's trying to get clicks. I'm doing
a real show over here. Yes. Well, okay, it's called

(01:39:53):
Tomorrow's headlines Today. Any chance the Blazers come back from
their O two deficit. Yeah, I certainly they almost won
game last night. Sunday, the headline will be it's about
Dame time. Listen, you're a mister Portland cowherd. Yeah, Um,
I gotta just stress this. They are in this series
just because it's two. Oh, it's not over. They led

(01:40:14):
by sixteen last night in the third quarter. I believe
they gave up a fourteen three run at the end
and kind of choked it away. Uh. Damian Lillard has
struggled in the series. You know, is it possible he's hurt.
I think he's tired. He put a lot of energy
into a keeven game series and the first Russell Westbrook
I love, I love him, but these guards Dame hardened Westbrook,

(01:40:37):
this whole it exhausts these guys. These guys are not like,
they're not six five, three thirty defensive lineman. They're they're
thin there, four percent body fat. This is a long season.
You gotta play on both fends. I think he's You
say he's tired, I think it was. I think it's
just fatiguecause down the stretch he was deferring to c
J McCollum. Listen, you can do that against Denver. All right,

(01:41:00):
this is Clay and Igudala. Dame's got to take over
at some point here. I do believe they can make
this a series. And I think Colin and again, this
is you know, counterintuitive to what everybody's saying out there,
I still think the Warriors need Kevin Durant to win
a title this year. I don't think they're winning the title.
I agree to beat Milwaukee. Their size down low. They
need at least Boogie. You can't. You can't go into

(01:41:21):
a series against you, honest and not have a big again,
we just have these narratives, so quickly, Colin, Right, So
three games into the Rocket series, Well, Steph Curry's not
built for the playoffs. Remember he was struggling shooting like
twenty five percent. And now it's like, well, if they
don't need Kevin Durant, that's stat and everybody keeps saying it,
people at this network, everywhere else twenty nine and one,

(01:41:42):
when Curry plays and Durant doesn't, do you know how
misleading that is? Well, it's five playoff games and then
a bunch of regular season games from two years ago, Like,
who cares what they did in the regular season two
years ago. Yeah, they're not winning this without Durant, that's
a fact. And they've also played games at home. They
would not have won that game on the road last night. Yeah,
it's just three games. I like Portland. Portland's got Steph
who can hit a three. South excuse me, They've got CJ.

(01:42:04):
They've got Damian Lillard, Rodney Hood. I'm gonna say this
about the Blazers, the front office guy, I hated that
contract they get to Evan Turner. Oh yeah, okay, hated it,
but they got trapped. They had there's a ceiling and
a floor in the NBA right salary. Portland's got shot makers.
They're not all a's, they got one A. But they
got guys in this league that can hit a three.

(01:42:24):
Portland's a great example. Get a star and a bunch
of guys who can occasionally, sporadically situationally get hot. They've
got shot maker. They got to figure out the Draymond
pick and roll. It's just killing hell. You know, three
on two break every time. I think Portland could win
both games at home. Tomorrow's headlines today, who wins the
Bucks Raptors series? Wow? This is the very exciting series

(01:42:47):
out east, and I believe the headline will be is
Game of Thrones on not to bash this series. I'm
sure you saw it. Ratings for Game one down twenty
five percent year over year. Last year it was Lebron
versus Celtics. And again the Toronto fans will say, well,
they don't count Toronto Toronto in the media ratings numbers. Colin,

(01:43:09):
There's just not a lot of juice here. You know.
I don't want to slam the NBA. I love the NBA,
like the playoffs, we both do. But there is just
not a lot here. I think the Bucks kind of
win this series handily. Are they getting thirty from Kyle Lowry? Again, Well,
Milwaukee's got a great bench, they have depth, they have size,
they got a great coach. The guy Brook Lopez blasting threes?

(01:43:32):
Is that incredible? I mean, how was Lebron just crying
watching that? I mean he was making three million with
the Lakers. He wanted to be a Laker and they
let him go three million. Nobody makes three million in
this league and can hit the three. This is the
stat from Game one I can't get over. So in
the fourth quarter, guys not named Kyle Lowry were oh
for fifteen shooting. How how does that happen in a game?

(01:43:52):
I mean the Raptors they blew the cover. I was
on Milwaukee, obviously, but uh, this series, I don't know.
Is this mandatory view for you tonight or your Friday night,
you're going out at night. I don't watch sports on Friday.
I made an exception last week for the Rockets Warriors.
Friday is family night. It's wife night, it's kids, it's
it's you know, family man. I like that. Yea, all right.

(01:44:14):
Tomorrow's headlines today, will Anthony Davis want to stay with
the Pelicans now they have Zion? So we disagree heavily
on this. This could be a thirty minute debate if
you really want to. The headline will be a D
stops browsing for a new team, the Brow. We're three
for three on Cowherd laughs here. I really don't think

(01:44:34):
David Griffin is gonna trade Anthony Davis. I know you're
saying Ad wants out, he does not want to go back.
That's fine. I think David Griffin, if he doesn't get
Tatum and Jalen Brown from Boston, can say, you know what,
We're gonna roll the dice. We are gonna see if
Zion Williamson can have the same type impact that Luca
don Chich had in Dallas. Luca don Chich was awesome.

(01:44:54):
He was twenty seven and six. Zion is gonna sell
tickets he's gonna sell jerseys. And if a d and
Zion play for the first two or three months together,
why can't they be a top five seed? Colin two
years ago they went to the second round. Now, I'm
not saying that they're going to be an awesome team
and contend, but I think the Pelicans can sell Anthony Davis. Listen,
we're not trading you. We're not sending you to the

(01:45:17):
Lakers where I'm not doing that. Here's the ownership doesn't
want to No, No, I that the Gail Banson story.
I agree, she didn't want to do this. You want
those Knicks players, Kevin Knox, really, Dennis Smith. Let me
ask you this though, so you could have Drew Holliday
Zion Anthony Davis. Julius Randall to me, is a lesser
version of Zion. Trade Zion and get a point guard

(01:45:39):
Mike Conley. Memphis Memphis needs scoring. You're given up Zion
from Mike. No, no, I'm giving up Julius from Julius Randall. Yeah,
I've got Conley, Drew Zion, Anthony Davis. That's not bad.
I like. I like what you're thinking there. And again,
we know Anthony Davis wants out. He may not get
what he wants here. I don't think Griffin's gonna trade
him this sum again, the Knicks package is not attractive. Listen,

(01:46:03):
we talked about the Lakers. Anybody want brandon Ingram coming
off the injuries two straight years, the blood clots. I'm
telling you, we saw what happened with Isaiah Thomas when
the Celtics shipped them out with that hip issue. He
didn't even play for like six months. I don't think
there's a huge market right now for brandon Ingram Lakers.
I don't. I don't think they're gonna get them. All right,
let's go tomorrow's headlines. Well, Lebron and the Lakers land

(01:46:25):
a big free agent Colin. I don't know if you've
seen this. It's all over the news. The headline tomorrow
will be Staples Center evacuated due to dumpster fire. Jeanie
Buzz has a big problem on her hands now. Listen,
I was here last week. I made a pitch and listened.
Kawhi and the Lakers make sense. That's out there, that's fine,
but in reality, there's a scenario. And I saw you

(01:46:47):
talking about the Kyrie Anthony Davis Lebron. I don't buy
that at all. There's a scenario where they get nobody
like Anthony Davis had said, oh yeah, Magic Lebron, I
want to go in LA when you just look at
Bron not getting his way getting head coach Tyler. How
much juice does Lebron have with the Lakers now they
wouldn't hire his head coach tylu Rich Paul. Do they

(01:47:11):
have the juice that they had when Magic was there?
It's you gotta cut through Genie Buss and Linda Rambus.
I do believe if you're a free agent and you
look at this year, Okay, so let's look, let's go
through the free agent. Okay, so left or right? So
boogie um, they can have him. But I don't think
that's the guy coming off the all right, Kawhi Leonard,
we'll see, but just kawful Okay, Kyrie Irving. I don't

(01:47:32):
buy it at all. I thought there was a decent
chance before, but he came out. According to one report,
has told people, I'm not going to Ali. He doesn't
want to play for Brad Stevens in Boston, but he
wants to play for Frank Vogel. Am I supposed to
believe that. Okay, Jimmy Butler a shot. I'll just say
he might be their best opportunity. Okay, Clay Kevin Durant,
Tobias Harris, camel Walker, either no or not? Interest again,

(01:47:55):
you don't You're going into uncertainty. Is Lebron gonna be happy?
What's up with Frank Vogel. There's just so many unanswered questions.
Rob Polinka and Genie Bust. They really need to get
out in front of this because it's getting ugly for
the Lakers. This is Defcon one. If I'm the Lakers,
you know, Magic Johnson and the Lakers are very upset
with Fox Sports because of my unmitigated power as a broadcaster.

(01:48:19):
I am seeing now as poisonous to the toxic to
the Lakers brand. Is that coming from Magic? I have
been I have been seen as a very negative force
in the building because I have had had the audacity
to say that Lonzo balls trade value since the injury
is not good. That's a fact. Brandon Ingram bloodclot issues

(01:48:42):
taken him mostly off the market. Another fact, Lebron will
be great, but you can't win in this league without
three and four shooters, and they don't have one, Colin,
You're not out here supposed to be cheerleading for the
team with Laker Pom pomp. The way they run the
franchise is toxic. I don't think I'm talking. You call
it like you see it. When things are going great

(01:49:02):
and they're in fourth with twenty and fourteen record in December,
Lakers look great? Why can't they go to the Western Conference?
Find The Lakers were mad at me because I reported
the story that Luke Walton fired them as much as
they fired Luke, which was true, and later came out
three days later that Luke wanted out. It wasn't him
being fired. Jason McIntyre great seeing you see him Monday.
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