Nightcap - Hour 1: Thunder up 3-1 on Timberwolves + Unc GOES OFF on Zion Williamson

Summary

Podcast Summary: Club Shay Shay – Nightcap - Hour 1: Thunder up 3-1 on Timberwolves + Unc GOES OFF on Zion Williamson

Release Date: May 27, 2025

In this episode of Club Shay Shay’s "Nightcap," hosts Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco delve deep into the intense Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The discussion is rich with game analysis, player performances, trade speculations, and spirited debates on current NBA narratives, including a heated exchange about Zion Williamson's career trajectory.

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1. Series Overview: Thunder Leads 3-1 Against Timberwolves (00:35 - 06:10)

The episode kicks off with Shannon Sharpe providing a brief recap of the ongoing series. The Oklahoma City Thunder have taken a commanding 3-1 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, setting the stage for their potential advancement to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.

Notable Quote:

Shannon Sharpe [02:15]: "OKC build an 11-point lead and they hold on to win 128 to 126 as they go home with a commanding 3-1 lead."

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2. Player Performances: Thunder’s Big Three Shine (06:10 - 17:43)

Hosts engage in an in-depth analysis of the Thunder’s standout players—Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and Chad Holcen. Collectively, they contributed a remarkable 95 points against the Timberwolves, showcasing their offensive prowess and teamwork.

Notable Quotes:

Colin Cowherd [06:38]: "Shai Gilgeous Alexander has not been efficient, but he doesn't give a damn about efficiency. He's going to get shots up because the worst thing you can do is not shoot the basketball."

Unknown [10:10]: "They gave 64 points from the bench, and 62 from the starters. That's unacceptable."

The discussion highlights the disparity between the Thunder's starters and the Timberwolves' key players, emphasizing the Thunder's balanced and robust lineup.

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3. Timberwolves’ Struggles and Strategic Decisions (17:43 - 31:11)

The conversation shifts to the Timberwolves' challenges, particularly focusing on Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards' underwhelming performances. The hosts critique the team's reliance on these players and question the coaching decisions that led to their downfall in crucial moments.

Notable Quotes:

Colin Cowherd [08:31]: "They were six for 20 from the floor and one for 10 from the three. That's unacceptable."

Unknown [12:00]: "Their big three are your second-best players, but they gave you 27 points. How do you expect to win against a team that won 68 games?"

The hosts debate potential trade moves and future strategies for the Timberwolves, expressing skepticism about their ability to rebound in the series.

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4. Trade Speculations and Team Dynamics (31:11 - 48:43)

Delving into trade rumors, the hosts discuss the Timberwolves' future, focusing on key players like Austin Reed and the possible acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo. They debate the feasibility of trading established stars for draft picks and younger talent, weighing the risks and benefits of such moves.

Notable Quotes:

Colin Cowherd [36:53]: "How they gonna get anything because you can't trade Luka. You can't trade LeBron because LeBron is one of the two players that have a no-trade clause."

Unknown [41:10]: "They have the draft capital to go get a Kevin Durant. They have the capital to go get a Yanis."

The discussion underscores the complexities of team management and the strategic importance of maintaining a balanced roster to achieve championship success.

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5. The Zion Williamson Debate: Current Status and Future (48:43 - 71:07)

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to Zion Williamson's career. The hosts express concerns over his limited playoff minutes and recurring injuries, debating his impact on the New Orleans Pelicans and speculating on his future in the NBA.

Notable Quotes:

Colin Cowherd [54:16]: "Zion Williamson is entering year seven with zero playoff minutes logged. I just got sick."

Unknown [56:56]: "Zion is a phenomenal talent. We're never going to hear me say anything about the guy's talent. He can do it."

The hosts argue over Zion's commitment to maintaining his physical health and the role his team environment plays in his performance. They also explore the challenges he faces in maximizing his potential amidst persistent injuries.

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6. Career Reflections and Motivational Insights (71:07 - 75:08)

Towards the end of the episode, Shannon Sharpe shares personal reflections on his NFL career, emphasizing the importance of hard work, discipline, and gratitude. He encourages listeners to appreciate their achievements and strive for continuous improvement.

Notable Quotes:

Colin Cowherd [72:32]: "All I wanted was an opportunity to play in the NFL. Play that game. And I played high school and played college. That was my goal."

Unknown [74:59]: "As long as I was able to play and have fun and do it my way and always wanted to make sure my kids were good."

This segment serves as an inspirational close, highlighting the significance of perseverance and personal fulfillment over accolades.

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7. Conclusion and Final Thoughts (75:08 - End)

The episode wraps up with a reiteration of the key discussions and a reminder of upcoming games and future episodes. The hosts express anticipation for how the series will unfold and the potential implications for both teams involved.

Notable Quote:

Shannon Sharpe [75:45]: "Hypnotic where every sip is a slam dunk. Hypnotic Liqueur Bardstown, Kentucky 17% alcohol by volume Hypnotic reminds you to think wisely, drink wisely."

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Additional Notes:

• Advertisements: The episode includes multiple advertisements for brands like T-Mobile, Hypnotic Liqueur, Gemini Credit Card, and Caulipower. These have been excluded from the summary as per instructions.

• Hosts and Speakers: The primary speakers in this episode are Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco, with frequent contributions from Colin Cowherd and an "Unknown" speaker, likely co-host Ocho.

• Key Themes: The episode centers around strategic sports analysis, player performance critiques, trade dynamics, and personal career reflections, offering listeners a comprehensive look into the NBA’s current landscape.

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This summary encapsulates the main discussions and insights from the episode, providing a cohesive overview for those who have not listened to the full podcast.

Transcript

[Shannon Sharpe]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.

[Chad Ochocinco]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant. The fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back and Degree listen and that doesn't happen often. They admitted they effed up and are bringing the original Cool Rush scent back. And it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. There's a reason why it's the number one men's antiperspirant and it's back in Walmart, Target and other stores now for under $4. So try it and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart Target and try the OG Cool Rush for yourself. Craftsman days are here at Lowe's with big savings on the tools you need. Save $100 on the Craftsman V26 Tool Power Tool Combo Kit now at $199. No matter what the project is, Craftsman's high quality, high performance products empower you to build on. Stop by your nearest Lowe's store and check out the full line of Craftsman tools today, valid through 618 while supplies last selection varies by location the volume hello ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining us for another episode of Nightcap. Oo. We finally got an interesting game in the Western Conference finals. Unfortunately, if you're a Wolves fan it did not go in your favor. It did not end in your favor as OKC build an 11 point lead and they hold on to win 128 to 126 as they go home with a commanding 31 lead and they can end this thing on Wednesday night and advance to the Western and advance to the NBA finals for the first time since 2012. Wow. Chet Holgren and Jalen Williams and chet Holgren, their big three was sensational tonight. They gave him a combined 95 points. Again, thank you for joining us for another episode of Nightcap. I am your favorite unc Shannon Sharp, my partner and co host, Liberty City's own Bingo Ring of Fame honoree, Pro Bowler All Pro. That's Chad Ochocinko Johnson. We're going to be joined a little later by Larry Johnson, Grandmama. He's having technical difficulties right now, so while he tries to reconnect, Ocho and I is going to go ahead and start the show anyway. Please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Please make sure you hit the like button and go subscribe to the Nightcap podcast feed wherever you get your podcast from. We want to thank each and every one of you for your support and your continued support. We realize that nothing happens without you, your eyes, your ears and your word of mouth telling people you guys need to check out Unc and Ocho on Nightcap. We greatly, greatly appreciate that and words cannot express fully how we feel about you guys. So thank you again very much for making this possible. Please make sure you check out Shave by La Portier if you can't find it in the city or state near you. Trust and believe we're coming to a city or state near you. But if you can't find it in the meantime, don't just order it online, we'll ship it directly to your door. The best tasting VSOP cognac on the market. We beating all the big boys. Try it. I promise you you will not be disappointed. Please drink responsibly and stay safe. Check out my media company page on all of its platforms. Shay Shay Media and my clothing company, 84 with 84 being spelled out, the link is pinned in the chat. Supplies are limited and once they're gone, they're gone. So please grab yours while supplies last. Also, we want to say Happy Memorial Day to all the men and women domestically and abroad that serve and protect this country. Thank you. To all the men and women that have served and gave the ultimate sacrifice to their families. Hopefully, if you're watching, thank you because you make it easy for the people that do not serve to rest easy knowing that we're protected both here and abroad. So thank you very much for your service and Happy Memorial Day. Hopefully you are, you enjoyed it, you were safe, you didn't eat too much. But now we get to the ball game. The Thunder beat the T Wolves Oo3 to take a 31 series lead. Shay Gil Just Alexander had a career playoff high 40 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists. He's almost he almost had a trip. Dub Flirt flirted around and almost got a trip. Dub the fourth player in WNBA history at a 4510 game in the Western Conference finals, Julius Randall. In game four, he was as abysmal as he was in game two. Five turnovers, one bucket. T. Woods led the game in rebounds, assist, points off turnover, fast break points, points in the paint, second chance point, free throw attempt, free throw make field goal percentage, 3 point percentage, free throw percentage.

[Unknown]

Everything. Listen heavy loss, everything across across the board.

[Colin Cowherd]

Man, I what I don't understand what I don't understand and I need somebody to help me understand that's more knowledgeable about the game of basketball than me. You mean to tell me ant man, you guys got a chance to tie this thing up. If you don't tie it up, you go down 3:1 and the likelihood of you coming back and winning three straight games with two of them being in OKC is not very good. And you have two shot attempts at the half.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Julius Rambler, you have four shot attempts at the half. The one thing I can say about Shai Gilgeous Alexander in the post season, he has not been efficient, but he don't give a damn about efficiency. He's going to get shots up because the worst thing you can do is not shoot the basketball because that way you're not going to get any points. Shay's like, you know what the worst thing that could happen. There's three things that could happen. I can make it, I can miss it, they can foul me. Those are three things that can happen. Yeah, and he had 30 shot attempts tonight. He only had he had 40 points but he got to the line 14 times. You go look at Jalen Williams, he had 24 shot attempts. You look at Chad Holgren, he had 14 shot attempts. Those three their big three combined for 95 points.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Ant Man, 16 points on five or 13. Julius Randle five points on one or seven or three from the three point line. Mike Conley, six points. So in other words, 22. You got two starters, three starters, excuse me. And they gave you 27 points. And you expect to win or beat that team, A team that won 68 games? No, the bench players, Nas Reed, DiVincenzo, Nikhil Alexander, Walker, they were the best players tonight. Jaden Daniels played really well, nine of 15 from the four, three or six. But I don't know why Ant man and Julius Randall took the approach that they took the first half.

[Unknown]

I have no idea. Especially when they gave to me. It's 2:1. The game is on the line. The series is on the line. The fact, the fact that you have four points and you have five shots, knowing that Anthony Edwards, you have to be aggressive. You got to, you got to come, you got to come out the same way you came out the previous game where you guys won. You aggressive, you attack and listen, what did Anthony finish with?

[Colin Cowherd]

16 points, five turnovers. Listen, not one or seven from the three.

[Unknown]

Not. Not in the game of this magnitude. Not in the game of this magnitude. Listen, I understand they made it very difficult. They made it very, very difficult. Thunder made it very difficult defensively. So what was happening as soon as Anthony got the ball? Most of the time they trapped, he passed it out, then they give it right back to him. Then it was, it was one on one from that point. You wait for your screen.

[Colin Cowherd]

They trapped LeBron. They trapped Kobe. They trapped Jordan. They trapped Steph. They trapped kd, they trapped. If he is what he said he is, he said he's the best player in basketball. I don't want to hear nothing about no traps. I don't make no excuses. You had two shots. Yeah, two shots. Two. You mean to tell me that defense is that good, that they'll only allow you two shot attempts?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Julius, Ra. You mean to tell me their defense is that suffocating? They're only going to allow you four shot attempts in the first half? You two, the two best players on the Timberwolves got six shot attempts on you. Nah, man, I, I can't rock with that.

[Unknown]

The funny thing about it is, Listen, it was 14. 14 different, 14 different league changes, right? Yeah, it came down to the end of the game. The game was, the game was within reach. Yeah, game was, was, was in reach for the Wolves, obviously, but execution down, down the stretch, especially those last two minutes where it came down to it, they didn't deliver, they didn't got 64.

[Colin Cowherd]

Points from your bench. Oo right. I mean when you look at it, you look at Shannon Jr. He gave you 8, 2 or 3, 1 or 2 from the free throw line. Alexander Walker 9 of 15, 5 of 8 from the three point line, that's 23 points. DiVincenzo, 7 of 11, 5 of 8, 2 or 2 from the free throw line. 21. Nas Reed, 3 or 4, 1 or 2?

[Unknown]

4.

[Colin Cowherd]

4 from the free throw line, that's 11. So you got 64 points from your bench, you got 62 from your starters. I'm confused. Hey, I think that's like 30, let's see 33. 32. Yeah. 32, 55 and 9 is 64. You had a hundred, you had 126. That's unacceptable Joe. I just, I wish I could tell you something better. 35, 51, 57, 62. Yeah.

[Unknown]

Hey listen, obviously I picked Wolves. I picked the Wolves to win this series. Actually I have picked the Wolves to actually make it to the finals. Obviously with my love and enthusiasm for Anthony Edwards as a player, an individual and what he brings to the game and thinking well me you know him being obviously the face of the NBA because he has that if factor that most players don't have to be that. But watching this OKC team tonight and what I've come to learn in my short time enjoying the game of basketball. The Thunder is the most complete team in the league. And the scary part about them, based on what I've seen and I've witnessed, they're only going to get better. They're only going to get better. After this championship run they have a great chance to obviously but how you.

[Colin Cowherd]

Going to keep it together?

[Unknown]

That's what I'm going to say. They got the MVP he's about to sign.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's about to sign a four year deal for 294. Or he could wait the next year to sign a five year deal for 3. 380.

[Unknown]

Knowing him.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, Chad Hungry's about to come up.

[Unknown]

Yeah but, but knowing SCA with as much as he has going on off the court, I say he signed that four year to be able to keep, keep everybody together.

[Colin Cowherd]

No you're not, still not. Because what you gonna do with Chad next year, that's a small market team. Mocho.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's not New York, that's not la, that's not Chicago. That's Oklahoma City. Okay. Jalen Williams, all them role players, all them role Players that you got, they gonna like.

[Unknown]

Hey, hold on. I got a question for you. Now think about this. These role players, right? The. The glue guys, and they have the mvp got a legit second option.

[Colin Cowherd]

Look, Jalen Williams played sensational. He was sensational.

[Unknown]

You got two elite bigs. You know, I hate the word elite, but based on the way they got damn playing, I'm just going to say elite for the sake of the argument. Then you have the blue glides. And the role players, do they want to leave understanding what you have if you guys stay together?

[Colin Cowherd]

I want money, Ocho. I can't eat them rings. So you mean to tell me I can go somewhere and make 5 to 20 million or I want to stay here to make 3 to 6 million?

[Unknown]

And who all is up? We know SGA got to get paid. Shit has to get paid next year, right?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. This is Chet third year. Yeah. Cause remember he missed his first year. He came back last year. This is his third year. So I think probably maybe they can do something this summer or they wait the next summer. Whichever case, I think they just did something with Jalen Williams.

[Unknown]

So he said he's locked. Hey, they. Listen.

[Colin Cowherd]

I think they did something with Caruso also.

[Unknown]

Well, you know. But for me. Do you know how good this team actually is?

[Colin Cowherd]

Younger. But that's what you do.

[Unknown]

If you keep. If you keep this together, let's say they might. They probably will win the title again. I love the Pacers. The Pacers are probably going to win that series against the Knicks. But there's no way the Pacers beat the OKC team we just saw tonight. They're too complete.

[Colin Cowherd]

Not only the.

[Unknown]

Not only the starters, even the bench.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

I hate that money comes into play. Cause when money comes into play, and that's. I know you want to get paid. You want to get paid for what you do. But like you say, you can't eat them rings, but you can get. You can get you another two with the squad you got right now.

[Colin Cowherd]

You rather have another 2 rings or 100 million? Make it 60. 60 million. Because you're talking about. The rings are only going to impact Shay, homegrown Jalen Williams. When you get the role players on your rings don't impact nobody, Right. I mean, it's nice to have their nice conversation pieces.

[Unknown]

Right?

[Colin Cowherd]

But you know, the rings only matter to the elite. Because if rings actually matter, Robert Horry would be in the hall of Fame. He got seven. And he was a contributor, a big contributor on all the teams. You go back and look the Two in Houston. You go back and look at what do you have, three in LA and then the two in San Antonio. He was a major, major contributor. He was contributing as equal, if not more than any role player that's playing in the fight. That's playing currently. Yeah, and he did it. He hit big shots, played big and big moments in all three stops. Now we know a superstar got seven rings. We talking about he Pantheon. So I, I think that's the thing. I, I just, I'm shocked. I'm watching this game and I'm like Ant bro, that you, you, you, hey, make something happen. Yeah, I know, I know, I know. Ocho, you want to do the right thing, but six assists with five turnovers isn't the right thing. Now if you tell me you have 12 assists, 1314 assists and five turnovers, I can live with that.

[Unknown]

Right?

[Colin Cowherd]

But I can't live. You got to go down. I'm swinging, I'm emptying the clip. Got to, I'm, I'm, I'm empty, whatever it is. The whole nine yards. That's the term they use because I guess they had nine yards of bullet and they said they give him the whole nine yards. You know those strangle on, on that. On the. Yeah.

[Unknown]

As close, as close as the game was towards the end, I really think there would be a difference. I think there would have been difference in the game in the second half if there was a little bit more production offensively from Andy. It definitely would have been a huge difference.

[Colin Cowherd]

They were six. They were six. Julius Randall and Ant man was six of 20 from the floor. They was one of 10 from the three. Let me repeat that. They were six of 20 from the floor. They were one for 10 from the three. Now you go back and look at the games in which they've lost. Look at Ant's three point field goal percentage. I think he was 1 for 6, 1 for 7 in one game. He was 1 for 9 in the second and the second game. He was 1 for 7 in this game. Look at Julius Randall. Games two, he was awful. He didn't even play the fourth quarter. Game three, he came back with Avengers. He anticipated game four. He was terrible again. That's two games, 50% of the games that he's played in. He's had single digit points. He's your second best player. That's. You can't have the mere fact that the game was this close when your second best player gave you 5 and your best player shot 5 of 13 and 1 of 7 from the 3. Point line and had gave you 16. The mere fact that you're in the ball game lets you know how well the others played. I need my big dogs to eat. Alexander Walker, DiVincenzo, Nas Reed.

[Unknown]

Alexander Walker was showing that tonight, huh?

[Colin Cowherd]

Jayden Daniels, they played better than the two big guys. You can't have. It's hard. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's really hard. If your two best players play as poorly as Julius Randall and Ant man played and your role players play that play that good because they played sensational. Like I said, you got 64 points from your bitch. You know how many boys that is? 64 from your bench. Damn, man, they gonna be kicking themselves Docho, because this is the one that got away.

[Unknown]

Yeah, hold on, hold on. What's the, what's the chances statistically? Percentage.

[Colin Cowherd]

They ain't got a hillbilly heartbeat. That's the chance. You got a better chance of winning the lottery in Miami if you fly to California. And if you go to another state, they got the mega million of powerball. You got a better chance of hitting one of the three than them coming back and winning three games against that team. Yeah.

[Unknown]

God damn. Hey, Alexander Walker, boy, he was. Hey, he was sensational tonight. He was nice.

[Colin Cowherd]

How many minutes did Julius run to play in the fourth quarter? I mean, my second best player now, I didn't play him in the fourth quarter in the game two. That's my second best player. I mean, imagine Ocho, your second best receiver and he done play the fourth quarter. Your second best hitter. You sub him out right? In baseball, you pinch hit for him. That's your second best hitter.

[Unknown]

Why was that, huh?

[Colin Cowherd]

He was awful.

[Unknown]

Game out of reach at that point.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, the game wasn't out of reach. He was awful. I need to get somebody in there that's going to give me some production. Julius Randall didn't play well. I'm not breaking news. I'm not interrupting you. Normally we got a service announcement. We got a Megan alert. I'm not breaking news to anybody. If you watch the game. He played terrible.

[Unknown]

Hey, when do you ever make that move as a coach though? Just curious. You got, you got the two big guns, you got the two best players.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's made it twice.

[Unknown]

Hypothetically speaking, I'm going to just go with Shaq and Kobe. Kobe. Kobe's having a bad night and Shaq is having an off night. Since when do you bench someone like Shaq? I'm not comparing Julius Rundle, Shaq. I'm just Using that for comparison to give better context for me, to give me a better understanding. How do you bench the second?

[Colin Cowherd]

First of all, Kobe ain't gonna go down shoot no seven shots. That's not gonna happen. Second of all, you get Shaq the ball. If they file him, they file him and he shoots 30 free throw attempts. But you find a way to get in the ball. Chris Finch has already made the decision. He, he doesn't have a problem. Put sitting Julius ass on the bench come fourth quarter. He did it in game two. He played four minutes and he, he had as many turnovers as points. He had seven shot attempts. He had five points, five turnovers in a game of this magnitude.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah. Listen, I'm just curious. I'm just curious where. Hey, like I'm just thinking about it, right? I'm going football terms. Me and TJ and Hooch is having a bad game. Well, we don't take, you know, we. As a head coach. Mark Lewis isn't taking Hoosh out. We find ways to give him the ball to get himself in rhythm even if he's having a bad game. I'm just saying basketball to me would be a little bit easier to do. Again, excuse my. You know. Okay. Goddamn if I'm fence. Okay. Julia's having a bad game. Let's make up some.

[Colin Cowherd]

I can't make him have a better game if he won't shoot the damn ball.

[Unknown]

Uh huh.

[Colin Cowherd]

I give you a prime example. You remember that playoff game? How many balls did Tio drop before he caught the game winner? You remember that game in San Francisco against Green Bay?

[Unknown]

It's the Packers. The packers game.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Unknown]

See? See what I mean? Same scenario.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm gonna keep going to you.

[Unknown]

Right, right. Yeah, that's. That's crazy. And obviously and hold on. OKC playing that defense too now they ain't making. They ain't making it easy.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, how you gonna be facing the NBA? Well, you say the man can be facing the NBA.

[Unknown]

We was talking about Julius. We was talking about Julius.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, Ant man wasn't much better. Hey, but I'm saying Julius is your second best player. I think Julius is going to the all star game. He's been an all star. He's been sensate. Outside of games 2 and 4 in the Western Conference finals, Julius Randalls has been sensational. You know, he's a three time all star. Excuse me. We saw what he did against the Lakers. We saw what he did the next round against Golden State. We saw what he did. He, he played really good. Game in game one he played sensational in game three I mean game four. Excuse me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When it's tip off time at my house, there are a few things that are must haves on my checklist. My fellow friends and fans. Check My favorite jersey. Check. An iconic drink that's a fan favorite. Check. Hypnotic can turn any cocktail into an iconic creation. With its game changing color and tropical flavor, Hypnotic should be in everyone's starting. 5. I consider hypnotic the point guard of my game day roster because not only is it versatile like having it on the rocks or as a base for cocktails, it also finishes smooth and just like the banners in my stadium. Letting people know that we take championships seriously. Having Hypnotic at my watch parties lets people know that I also take quality seriously since it's crafted with high quality ingredients for a championship level drinking experience. So the next time you need a break from the action with a distinctive timeout, look no further. Grab a bottle of Hypnotic and make your next basketball watch party iconic. Enjoy the vibrant taste with friends and turn every game into a memorable celebration. Hypnotic where every sip is a slam dunk. Hypnotic Liqueur Bardstown, Kentucky 17% alcohol by volume Hypnotic reminds you to think wisely, drink wisely.

[Chad Ochocinco]

T Mobile stats are as impressive as your favorite athlete's highlight reel because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now. Keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off at the $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines of your virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlocked device, credit service port in 90 plus days device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required Card has no cash access and expires in six months.

[Colin Cowherd]

Foreign.

[Unknown]

Did you know your credit card points and miles lose value while they collect dust? Imagine a credit card with rewards that can grow in value. Introducing the Gemini Credit Card With a Gemini Credit card, you can Earn Bitcoin or one of over 50 other cryptos instantly with no annual fee. Every swipe at the store gas pump earns you instant rewards deposited straight into your account. Plus sign up now for a $200 bitcoin bonus. To kickstart your rewards, go to gemini.comcard that's gemini.com card to learn more and start earning today. Terms apply again. Visit gemini.com card now. Terms apply the Gemini Credit Card issued by Web bank in order to qualify for the intro $200 crypto bonus. Your application must be approved by June 30, 2025 and spend 3,000 in your first 90 days. Terms apply. Some exclusions apply to instant rewards, in which rewards are deposited when the transaction posts. This content is not investment advice and trading Crypto involves risk. For more details on the rates, fees and other Gemini credit card terms, see Rates and fees. Hi, it's Colin from the Colin Coward Podcast. That would make sense that I would be the host of the Colin Coward podcast. I mean, that's the way I see it. I've been around long enough to know quality when I see it. Or in this case, when I taste it. Tito's Handmade vodka. Good stuff. No flash, no gimmicks. Smooth, clean, tasting, made the right way. Okay. I like things that are built to last. A great team, a well run organization. Same goes for my vodka, Tito's. Made in Austin, Texas. Real care, attention to detail, distinct, crisp taste. I was just telling my wife the other day, Tito's is the one vodka. It has a completely distinct taste. Been my go to for years, so I like to keep it simple. Tito's soda, one lime, lot of ice. Refreshing, easy. Summer, winter, spring. Totally versatile. Always works. Listen, baseball season's here. Your team's going to play 162 games. A perfect time to kick back with some Tito's. It's what I pour. You should too. Distilled and bottled by 5th Generation Inc. Austin, Texas. 40% alcohol by volume. Savor responsibly.

[Colin Cowherd]

A game of this magnitude where your role players give you what they gave you, your big guys can't come up small. They just can't. You can't. I got 22 from Jaden Daniels. I got 21 from DiVincenzo. I got 23 from. So you mean to tell me.

[Unknown]

Of.

[Colin Cowherd]

All the guys that played, Julius Randall scored the fewest points of all the guys that played. And he played more minutes than Nas Reed. He played the same amount of minutes as DiVincenzo. Alexander Walker played. As a matter of fact, Shannon played eight minutes and had more points than he had. And he only played eight minutes.

[Unknown]

Hey, they got Alexander locked up, huh?

[Colin Cowherd]

Alexander, he is roll. He comes off the bench. I mean, because if you put him in. Mike Conley. Mike Conley again, bro. This. This 6 and 2 and 0 points ain't gonna cut it, bro. The only guys that's consistently playing are Jaden Daniels. McDaniels that played really well against the Lakers. He played great in the last series, did a great game. I just need my Big guns to go off.

[Unknown]

Got to show up. They got to.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is. I mean, I guess they don't have big enough names to get amp hyped because I saw. I saw. I saw what he did against Jokic and Murray last year. I saw what he did against KD and Book. I saw what he did against Luke and LeBron. I saw what he did even though Steph went out. Jimmy Butler and Draymond.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

What's going on? What's really going on? And I'm not trying to minimize it, but hey, so Jordan's never faced great defenses. LeBron has never faced great defenses. Kobe's never faced great defenses. Lad Bird never faced great defenses.

[Unknown]

All the great. All the greats have.

[Colin Cowherd]

All the greats have. That's what make them great. Hell, if everybody went against the Washington Generals, hell, how do we know who's great?

[Unknown]

Are you saying the series is over?

[Colin Cowherd]

In the words of Luther Banjos, it's over now. It's over. They know it. They know it. Hey, 31 against that team.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, I know. I just. I'm mad I lost that hundred dollars to Joe. Damn. Hey, that was. It was a good ass game, though.

[Colin Cowherd]

The chat said, when are we gonna give ant man that Jason Tatum treatment?

[Unknown]

Oh, whoa, whoa.

[Colin Cowherd]

Jason Tatum, with the exception of edition, has been in the conference finals damn near his whole career. Is there a time that Jayson Tatum didn't make the conference finals except this year? With the exception of this year, he's probably been to five or six.

[Unknown]

Well, you see what Jason, remember his.

[Colin Cowherd]

Rookie year, they were battling the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals. He's probably been to five Eastern Conference finals.

[Unknown]

Well, you see that team? Do you see that team? Jason Tatum surrounded by.

[Colin Cowherd]

They weren't always like that. And he found a way to get to the Eastern Conference finals and they got out. Remember they got to the Eastern Conference finals and they didn't have pozingas when they lost Golden State.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

They didn't have Holiday.

[Unknown]

They had. They had brother Brown.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Brother.

[Unknown]

They had brother Tatum.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Yeah. These are the finals. Yeah. And they lost to LeBron. Them. Remember LeBron and game seven. LeBron had that historic game. Yeah. But your two best players, whether you say Julius Randle is the ant man or the equivalent of Tatum and Brown, the problem that I have is that I can't deal with seven and 13 shots between the two of them. I can't deal with 20 shots between the two guys. When Shay got 30 by himself, Jalen Williams got 24. Chet Holmgren had 14. Stop turning the ball over. You limit, you know.

[Unknown]

Hey, hey. Goddamn shape, man. That boy got a toolbox on him. Boy.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, oh, yeah, that's matches. You can't stop it.

[Unknown]

Got a toolbox.

[Colin Cowherd]

Jalen Williams had his best game of the series. He dropped a cool 34 like it ain't nothing. Champ played great, had a big time block. I'm not saying Minnesota could. Would have won the series, but at least don't you be the reason why. Play good and say, hey, man, look at ant, man. Gave us 30 a night. Gave us 35 a night.

[Unknown]

You got to be the reason. You got to be the reason why your team always have a chance.

[Colin Cowherd]

Always. But the 68 win, OKC Thunder one win away. Advancing to the first Finals since 2012, when they had the KD, Russ Harden and Sergio Baca and my colleague. Big perk. So OKC 128, Minnesota 126. They got 40 points from Shay Gilgis. He's one rebound short of a triple double. Jalen Williams gave him 34, Chet Holmgram gave him 21, and Caruso gave him 33 big points off the bench. They played really well, and they are one win away from advancing to the Western. Excuse me. To the NBA Finals. They're in the Western Conference final now. Pop free. No, Joe. Tyrese Halliburton's father, John, will be allowed to attend Pacer's home game, but he will not be courtside. He will be in a suite beginning Tuesday, Game 4 against the Knicks. John Halliburton missed eight games following his confrontation with Giannis on April 29. You see what a. They got superstition. So, Joe.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

I guarantee you, if they'd won game three, they wouldn't let him. They wouldn't have freed him.

[Unknown]

No, you might as well. You learn. You learn your lesson, especially you want to. You want to be there for those moments. You want to be there for those moments. I'm sure Halliburton obviously has something to do with it as well. The fact that he can't get courtside. It's not going to feel the same.

[Colin Cowherd]

Nope.

[Unknown]

It's different being in them suites. I don't.

[Colin Cowherd]

I don't. I don't.

[Unknown]

I frequent basketball games, but if I'm. I gotta be on the wood. I gotta be on the wood so I can experience it and get the. That authentic feel of it.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, it's probably a lot easier to see in an arena, see the suites, especially if you know where your suite's located. Cause I, you know, when I was in Baltimore, I had a suite and I was in Baltimore, and I could look up there and see my kid and see my mom and my sister and stuff. My homeboy that would come. But it's different, you know, it's different than my homeboys being on the sideline and, you know, I can come out the field and dap them up when I do something good or so forth and so on. They can dap, you know. Yeah, it was. But I'm glad. I'm glad. Like I said, I think, look, he got caught up in the emotion of it. Ocho. He was just so excited for his son. Is there something between Milwaukee and Indiana that brings out the best in Indiana? Brings out the best entire reason his dad got caught up in it, made a mistake, and he's back. Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully. Hopefully it pays off. But like you said, it's not. Being in a suite and being courtsided is entirely two different things. Being on the suite or being in the stands and being on the field. There's a reason why before the game, all them celebs on the field.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's the field. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

It'S different. But congratulations, John Halliburton. You're back in the building. Not where you normally would be, but, hey, it's a start. Baby steps. Baby steps on your baby steps. The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly hoping that the presence of Doc Rivers will make Giannis Antetokounmpo more likely to stay in Milwaukee, per Mark Stein. The Bucs are hoping that the presence of documents as a coach can provide some sort of boost. And the Kumpo and Rivers are believed to have a strong working relationship.

[Unknown]

You know, he's not staying. I mean, what are we doing?

[Colin Cowherd]

So he had a terrible. So Jason Kidd's gone. Mike Booneholz is gone. Who won him? He was there when he had them two MVPs, and he got a Finals MVP that won a championship. Adrian Griffin was fired after going 40, what, 41 and 13, right? Not Doc. So I'm just trying to figure out, and I'm just trying to figure how. What am I missing? What, what, what, What? What is it? What is it that they see that we don't listen?

[Unknown]

The man doesn't want to be there. I'm not sure. I'm not sure what. Why they're obviously gonna.

[Colin Cowherd]

I don't know, Ocho. I don't know if he doesn't want to be there or if he doesn't believe that they can win there. He can win There, you're not going.

[Unknown]

To be able to. There's nothing you're going to be able to do. Bringing in Doc Rivers isn't going to get you a chance at contention for a trade.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's not going to be able to get you any more players because you can't sign anything and you want to stay out of that second apron.

[Unknown]

Bingo. So, I mean, that goes without saying. I don't know why.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, you traded Holiday. You traded Holiday and gave up draft picks to get Dame.

[Unknown]

And Dame is, you know, Dame is out.

[Colin Cowherd]

Dame is out.

[Unknown]

I think maybe his decision making would be a little different if Dame wasn't hurt.

[Colin Cowherd]

No.

[Unknown]

You don't think so?

[Colin Cowherd]

No, because they didn't get to these two conference finals in the year that Dane was there. And there's sometimes that they play really good, but it's kind of hard because, you know, and you think Giannis needs the ball to clear and Dane likes to have the ball to do what he does. Sometimes it looks good, but more times than not it's just like, eh, yeah.

[Unknown]

He doesn't want to be there. I hate to regurgitate it and say it again. I told you where Giannis is going. I told you how that's gonna go.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I'm not saying I don't dis. I disagree with you. But what I am saying, what are you going to give up? I just don't see a scenario where you keep Bam and Tyler hero and still be able to get Giannis.

[Unknown]

Funny thing about it is we never know the scenario. That's up to the team. That's up to the. All the teams. Let me say it like this. Up to all the teams involved. He's, he's, he's giving hints and answers where he like to be, where he like to play subliminally by answering questions on Twitter. I mean, the proof is in. The pudding is right there. I mean, everyone's going to have these expert opinions on where he should go.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, but that's how you put trade scenarios together. Okay. If you're the Lakers, you know, who off limits, you know, you're not getting LeBron and you're not getting Luca. So now you start playing with pieces. Okay? Is Ar available? Available. Is Rui available? You start playing with pieces. Who could possibly leave and who could possibly come, right? So with that being said, that's the only way you can put a trace scenario. You got to do hypotheticals. You know, I'm just trying to see, I'm looking at the pieces that what Miami have they only got two pieces I would want.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Why would Johnny want to go to Miami? And, and, And Bam. And Tyler Hero isn't there. It's the same thing that happened with Carmelo when he went to the Knicks.

[Unknown]

Nobody there.

[Colin Cowherd]

You gutted him.

[Unknown]

Yeah. When you think about it, where the hell would he go? Where the hell. Where the hell else will Giannis go right now? Where they're going to have to give up something for him to even get him and still not be right back in the same type of situation you were in in Milwaukee.

[Colin Cowherd]

I think the thing is, Ocho, you're going to have to get multiple teams involved, but you're going to have to satisfy Milwaukee. Milwaukee, Giannis, think about it. Ocho, you lost Kareem, how long before you got something to replace Kareem, your second best player in franchise history? Giannis, I think he's the second best because Kareem won three titles with the two. We don't need to. I mean, you need to look up Kareem's stats because everybody that think Kareem was a bum, y' all need to look up Kareem before he got old. Cause, like, in the 80s, he still won Finals MVP at like 37, 38 years of age. But you got to go back and look at him from his rookie year until he was about 30. Go check him out. Go check out his stats and let me know what you think. With that being said, Lou Giannis, a superstar. See, that's what that. For the longest time, that's what really hurt okc. Because, see, Kevin Durant was a free agent and he left. Imagine what you could have got for Kevin Durant if you did a sign and trade. So now you. And it's absolute prime. Well, hell, before his prime, but now. So now you get a guy. I mean, you gonna get draft picks out to galore and a couple of solid players. That's what you would have gotten. But he left, you got nothing. He walked out the door. Same thing. Go to the state. He walked out the door.

[Unknown]

So when I think about teams with draft capital.

[Colin Cowherd]

Brooklyn got draft capital, Houston got draft capital. And players, because you got Shungun. I'm not getting rid of Arman Thompson. Arman Thompson is not going anywhere.

[Unknown]

Right?

[Colin Cowherd]

So you got capital. You got Jabari Smith Jr. You got Eason, so they got capital and they got draft picks. See, that's the thing, Ocho. There's only a handful of teams that have the draft capital and maybe some of the players to satisfy.

[Unknown]

What about. Okc Giannis, okc.

[Colin Cowherd]

I, I don't like that matchup with Shay. Do they have the draft capital? Absolutely.

[Unknown]

Yes.

[Colin Cowherd]

They have the draft capital to go get a Kevin Durant. I mean, if somebody else is available, they got the draft cat. Yes, they absolutely. Look at the players they got. I don't, for me, I don't think they, I don't think they're breaking up their nucleus. Shea, Jalen, Williams and Holgren.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm not breaking that up. There's a reason why Presti deliberately chose Chet Holgren. Cause he had an opportunity at Jabari Smith Jr. And because Paulo Banchero was gone, he was off the board. So you didn't have no shot at him.

[Unknown]

Nice.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. Young, young fella. Young fella like that. Yes, absolutely. The Thunder have the pieces. They got seven, eight first round picks. Seven, eight second round picks. They got two pick swaps still coming from the Clippers. Oh, they got the capital. Houston got the capital. Brooklyn has the capital. Because I just don't want draft picks. I want some. I want players that can come in and play and contribute and can help me right now.

[Unknown]

Right now. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

So it's going to be very interesting to see what Giannis, maybe they try to convince him one more year, but Giannis like one more year, that's a year older. I'm not closer. I mean, when you look at it, Giannis by himself, they're not beating, they're not beating the Knicks, they're not beating the Cavs, they're not beating Indiana. Now they might give Boston run without Tatum next year, but they're still okay. At best case scenario, they're the fourth best team. I'm not so sure they're the fourth best team. If Bankero and Franz Wagner stay healthy with that year, when they get thugs back with that with Black and Cole Anthony with some of the pieces that they have. Are we sure, Are we sure Milwaukee is no better than a fourth or fifth seed? I ain't coming back one more year for the bill. Fourth or fifth seed.

[Unknown]

Well, that, that's, that's, that's what it would probably be. Giannis can only do so much.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Unknown]

No, he can only do so much when he buys.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes. What. But how do you improve this team? People like, oh, ain't nobody say yeah. Woo, man, I'mma take this max deal from Milwaukee. I got a, I get an opportunity to get a max deal from la. I get a max deal from Chicago. I get a max deal. I'm going to Milwaukee.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

You're not. You're not. There's nothing to do. It's cold. Ish. Clothes at 11. Okay, 10. Where am I gonna go get something to eat after the game?

[Unknown]

It can't be that bad.

[Colin Cowherd]

Kids ain't playing outside after September.

[Unknown]

Can't be that bad, huh?

[Colin Cowherd]

In Milwaukee? Yeah.

[Unknown]

I'm just saying it can't be that bad.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's bad as far as what?

[Unknown]

I mean, I've never been there. I've never experienced what it's like to live there.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's in Wisconsin. So what you think the weather is like from Wisconsin? October, November, December, January, February, March, April. So what do you think the weather's like? You played in Green Bay?

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's cold.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, so what you think the weather like in October, November, December, January, February, March.

[Unknown]

But guess what? Think about some of the teams you just named too. Hell, all them same months in Chicago, it's cold. Them same months, you just name me in Chicago.

[Colin Cowherd]

Ish is open. I can still go get a meal at 10 o' clock at night. We'll see. We shall see. Austin Reed's agent issues a warning amid trade rumors next year is going to be a show. People really have no idea what's to come. Keep putting him in trade rumors for a second string center.

[Unknown]

Whoa, who they taking shots at, huh?

[Colin Cowherd]

Whoever keep leaking his name. Talking about part of trade. They're trading for a center.

[Unknown]

But he said second string. Who's the second string center? They taking a shot at somebody.

[Colin Cowherd]

Anybody? Anybody. That's not Jokic, Joel Embiid. Those are really only centers.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Hey, Austin Reeves is nice too, huh? He can go anywhere right now. And getting work, getting buckets.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, but bro, you gonna opt out? Bro, you gonna opt out your contract? The Lakers can only play you so much, right? You're gonna go somewhere and get a big payday anyway. You ain't trying to stay with the Lakers when you can get a $200 million deal and they can't give you that. I know. Sure, Austin is very grateful, very thankful. The Lakers believed in him, gave him a tryout. He went to the G League. He played really well. Him and LeBron. LeBron saw something early, took him under his wings and he flourished. Let's not kid ourselves. Let's not kill ourselves. Officer Reed's gonna get a mega payday. Finna get a couple hundred million dollars.

[Unknown]

Maintenance value at the nla.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, he's not. He know. He knows his bag. That's why. That's why they just said what he's Saying, okay, because he hopped out his contract.

[Unknown]

Go get your money, young fella.

[Colin Cowherd]

Cause the thing is, like, what they try to do, Ocho, if you sign with your team, they can give you that fifth year. You leave, they can only give you four.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

So they was like, okay, we can add an extra year. That's an extra 50. You get nicked. Hey, you not playing your best, you still a opt in. You got 50 coming, right? He knows that. He knows that based on what he's done over the last three years. As you've seen his point assist, rebound total go up, he's been a valuable option. I mean, we saw him with he with no Luka in the lineup. He and LeBron with no Luka and LeBron in the lineup. What he did against Indiana, we've seen him go out for 40. We've seen him go get 30. Yeah, he's improved every single year. He's a hell of a player. But those three guys are not going to win anything. Now, I'm not saying that you got to package him, but they need a big and. And he's the only. He's the only valuable piece that they have that they're willing to part with. They not trading Luka. You can't trade LeBron because LeBron is one the two players that have a no trade. He and Bradley Bill, everybody else. Nobody else in the NBA other than LeBron James and Bradley Bill has a no trade.

[Unknown]

Now, when you say. You also say they need a big. Now Giannis is off the table going to la, too, because you don't have.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think, I mean, he mentioned la, but I think he's talking about more Clippers than. Than Lakers.

[Unknown]

Oh, hey, pardon Kawhi and Giannis.

[Colin Cowherd]

What you gonna give up because your pigs. Your pigs belong to okc.

[Unknown]

Okc. That's right. That's right. That's right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Ask for them back. And then guess what? We got pig swaps. So guess what if some, for some God unforeseen reason, you're higher than we are. Hey, let's. Let's swap that thing. You know what I'm saying, Ocho? Hey, you get a nice burger, you get a good smash Double Smash burger with cheese. And I got a bologna sandwich. You know what? I want to swap lunches today. It's my time to swap, okay? Now you got the bologna sandwich, I got the double cheese smash burger. See.

[Unknown]

But Yanni, Yanis look like Yannis gonna be.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's hard, Ocho. It's hard because here's the thing.

[Unknown]

I thought about where it would make sense. Yeah, you putting yourself right back in the same goddamn predicament, outside of it being a better goddamn city and being able to get something to eat after 11 o' clock. That's it.

[Colin Cowherd]

But see, that's the thing though. That's the thing, Ocho, is that Austin Reeves understands his value. He knows he's going to be a commodity because he's proven he's a starter in this league. He's not a role player. I mean, he's a role player, but he's a starting role player. You know what I'm saying? He can handle the ball, he can create his own shot, he can facilitate an off, he can run an offense. Yeah, he's. Yeah, he's a liability on defense. But guy, ain't nobody playing no defense anymore. Just don't let him beat you on the first dribble. Can you guard him for two dribbles?

[Unknown]

That's it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Then hell's going to come. So with that being said, there's only a handful of teams that have the capital to go to go get a Yanis. Because you got to think about it, Ocho, look at what I'm giving up. I'm giving up a Giannis, I'm giving up a KD. I need something valuable in return. Now KD's a little different. KD's a little older. So he's not going to command. Phoenix is not going to get maybe what they think they're going to get.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Because there's a difference. I think. Giannis is 30, KD is about to be 37 and injury history. Remember he got nicked again at the end of the year. He missed the last couple games. When he got there, he messed up his knee. So he has a history of being injured. So you're not gonna get what you. Because of age and his injury history, he's still a phenomenal player.

[Unknown]

Very.

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[Colin Cowherd]

Foreign.

[Unknown]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Wow, someone made. But check this out. Ocho.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

I can't even pronounce this guy's name. He said Zion Williamson is entering year seven with zero playoff minutes logged. I just got sick.

[Unknown]

I mean, the Zion Williamson going to the Pelicans, understanding his injury history, the fact that he hasn't been able to play enough games, even make the playoffs. He doesn't have a team surrounding him or. Or have the help to make the playoffs.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah, he made. They made the playoffs, but he was hurt. He couldn't play. Yeah, they made the playoffs. I mean, think about it. He had. He had bi the second year. Yeah. Valentunas, he had C.J. mcCullough.

[Unknown]

That was his second year. Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

I don't know what year it was, but I'm saying they've made the playoffs. Zion just hadn't been able to play.

[Unknown]

I think he needed a new change of scenery. Huh? He needed a change of scenery.

[Colin Cowherd]

You need a change of eatery.

[Unknown]

Change of who eatery?

[Colin Cowherd]

What's important to him? Everybody wants something more than Zion wanted for himself. Think about what he denied himself. Probably going out, partying, doing all those other things that kids his age did because he wanted to be a basketball player. And he wanted to go to college. And he would be in college. He wanted to go to the NBA. So think about what you denied yourself to get to where you got to and not all of a sudden. Now, granted, when you young Ocho, you rub it down the court, Ocho, weight just fall off you. Yeah, I mean, I can lose. I can lose easy. Hell, I lose. I swear that 7, 8 pounds at a practice once lost 13 pounds in a practice. You young, you can do that. As you start to get older, you see A lot of. You see a lot of young fat people. You don't see a lot of old fat people, Ocho. Cause the heart's only so big. It's only meant to pump the size that you supposed to be. You start getting four, you start getting three and £400 when you meant to be 200 or 250 packs in the body.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's why you can't put a Volkswagen engine in an 18 wheeler. It's not meant to pull that. You'll burn it out. What's important to Zion? How bad does Zion want to be at do it? See, get. Getting in is easy. That's the easy part.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

It gets hard to get out and get back in. Zion is a phenomenal talent. We're never. You're never gonna hear me say anything about the guy's talent. He can do it. He can do it. We've seen him. He can score 25 in a game. He's gonna get to double. He's not the best rebounder. I mean, I thought he'd be a better rebounder than what he was because he's explosive as Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley is the smallest guy to ever lead the league in rebounding.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Charles Barkley is six' four, Zion six' four, and I believe is more explosive. But rebound is all about want to. That's why. That's why Dennis Robin did it so well. Dennis Robin wanted the ball more than anybody else.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

But it's got to be. He's got to adopt. Say, you know what, man? I'm tired of this ish, man. Let me get myself. Let me get myself together. Let me get myself together. Let me. I'm gonna get me a chef, and I want you to hold me accountable. I'm not saying he can't ever eat something bad, but you have to, like, weigh the options. Let's just say for the sake of argument, Ocho, there's seven. There's seven days in a week. We know there's seven days in a week. And let's just say he's gonna eat 28 meals that week. 28 to 30.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

When you talk about breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, things like that, 28 meals. Of those 28 meals, 25 of them need to be nutritious, healthy, packed with protein, complex carbohydrates, facts.

[Unknown]

What happens if the team he has around him, the people that he has surrounding them, what if he is eating healthy? What if he is eating nutritious and he just can't seem to keep the weight off because maybe he's just supposed to be.

[Colin Cowherd]

Doesn't work like that. Do you know how hard it is? Take it from somebody that's had a healthy lifestyle pretty much for 32 years. 1993, I made the decision. I'm gonna have a healthy lifestyle. Do you know how hard it is to eat 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 calories if you're eating healthy? Okay, it ain't nothing to eat that kind of calories. Hell, I get you a burger that got 2,000 calories in it, but to eat chicken, to eat rice, to eat fish, to eat. To eat broccoli, to eat vegetables, People don't understand how hard it is to eat that many calories when the food is nutritiously dense. Now, if you eating some buljar oxtails and pork chops and etouffee and boudin and jambalaya and gumbo ain't nothing. You'll blow through 2,000, 3,000 calories in a meal. It's hard to ex. Out exercise a bad diet. It's hard. And the older you get, the harder it is. I'm not telling you something, Chad. I'm not telling you something somebody told me. I'm telling you what I know because once upon a time, I know I might not look like it now, the way I walk and move around. I wasn't elite athlete at one point in time.

[Unknown]

I always. I always argue with people, too, about that, about that. That saying you can't. You can't outwork a bad diet. But, I mean, I think because my frame is. Is so small. Yeah, but I've never.

[Colin Cowherd]

If you didn't work out, your. You realize that if you didn't lift weights and work out like you do, how small you would be?

[Unknown]

I get skinny. I look.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hey, absolutely, you would.

[Unknown]

I look sick, man. Like, it's not even when I don't lift. And it looked weird, like some.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah. And so that's the thing. I mean, some people. There are some people like that, Some people like that to have that frame ocho, that don't matter what they do. They're going to be thin. And then there's some people. You look at a burger, that's three pounds you gained. You shouldn't have looked at me. Oh, but I just think that's the thing that Zion needs to do. He's just got to make it up in his mind, say, you know what? I'm gonna get in shape. I'm gonna stay in shape. Because, I mean, before you know it, it's gonna be year 10.

[Unknown]

10. Hey, that's great. You know what's funny is I remember the hype. It was really not hype because he was that boy.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, he legit.

[Unknown]

He was supposed to be the next face of the NBA. He was supposed to be LeBron. They were trying to. From what it seemed from media coverage and what everybody was saying, he was the next great thing that was supposed to. LeBron was done playing, and it just. It never panned out that way, obviously, because of injuries. And I'd assume, you know, his inability to keep the weight off and be on the court and be available. When he's on the court, though.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, we did. And see, Ojo, that's the thing that's frustrating because you see what he. You can see what he can be. You see what he's capable of because he's shown it to you. But at the end of the day, you can never want something for someone else more than they want it for themselves.

[Unknown]

It's been seven years already.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's about to be seven years. Next year will be seven years.

[Unknown]

This shit going by fast.

[Colin Cowherd]

It does. Think about Ocho. Think about it. When you came into the league, and next thing you know, you looked up, you was in year 10.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Yeah, it went fast.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hey, now it's about time to go. It's time for somebody else to age. Once you get to year 10, you take it year to year, it ain't no more. Oh, I got me five more. Nah, hell no.

[Unknown]

Absolutely not. You know, business comes into play at that point.

[Colin Cowherd]

Absolutely. Once you get to year 10, I sure. I hope I can get me another one. Oh, I stole another one on, yo. Got me 12 of them things. Yeah, that's it. I. I think. And I think that's what's important for Zion, because there's no denying his talent. There's no denying his talent. He get that ball. Hey, he jumps so quick, so effortlessly, but that's a lot of pounding. That's a lot. That's a large man. That's up and down, up and down, up and down. Same thing with Embiid, big man. And you asking big men to do that over and over and over 82 times a year, nobody's really going to play. But Mikhail Bridges is going to play 82 games. Maybe a handful of players playing 82 games. So you're asking Joel Embiid if he can give us 70 somewhere, give us 66 to 70. Can you do that? Zion, can you give us 66 to 70? Because that's what it's going to take. They're your, the team's best player. It's hard, it's hard to advance when your best player is not there. Z is their best player. And now they've traded B because not bi's in Toronto. He was dealing with, I think he was dealing with a blood clot, right? What, what did a, A bi have in Toronto because he got traded?

[Unknown]

How many, how many other teams could Zion go to? He could probably go everywhere and still be the best player outside of OKC and the Lakers, huh?

[Colin Cowherd]

No. Yeah, well, he ain't gonna be. Here's the thing. Could. Where could he go? Or where could somebody's gonna that need him and have the capital to give up? Look, he always wanted to go. I, I, I still believe this. I believe he would have preferred to be the third pick and be in New York, to be the number one pick and be in New Orleans.

[Unknown]

Can you imag. Can you imagine Zion in New York?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I can. I can.

[Unknown]

Hey, at his size, Zion would be the. He was, he did. He too short to be the. He can play, he can play the four. He's a three, though, right?

[Colin Cowherd]

Who's Zion? Yeah, okay. He can be, he can play the three out of four because he's so powerful.

[Unknown]

Yeah, but he undersized, though, huh?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, but I gotta punish you. Like I'm saying, if you punish me on one end, I gotta punish you on the other.

[Unknown]

I mean.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Hey, that sucker. And that's like a jump man.

[Colin Cowherd]

Either he's a quick jumper, quick, very.

[Unknown]

Athletic, very explosive to be that size. The funny thing about it is, probably everyone else, he's a little bit more twitchy than everybody else. Oh, yeah, he twitchy as if he, as if he's small, if that makes sense.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's a more explosive Charles Barkley. Look at the way Barkley was built and look at the way Zion is built. And that would have been the first thing I would have done. I would have got with Charles Barkley and said, charles, how'd you do it? How'd you get the weight of. He said, mose. Because he had a veteran. Mose Malone said, hey, Charles, he said, you fat and you lazy. That's a hell of a combination. You could be one or the other.

[Unknown]

Ocho can't be both.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, you can't be those two, right? And that's what I tell guys. Look, you can you in football, you can be old and fast or young and slow, but you can't be two together. You can't be old and Slow.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Be over there on the sideline.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, you'll be at the league. Old and slow gets you out of the league. Old and fast will keep you on the sideline. Yeah, but I just hope he gets it figured out. I just hope he gets it figured out because man, he is so immensely talented and you just want to see the best, especially guys that you see and you know they got it in the mocho. You know, they talented. You, you've seen it. It's not man, man, I don't know. But hey, no, we've seen when he's healthy. Yeah, he's an all star box office, but it is what it is. Oo, that's. That's his career, that's his future. And, and he has to. He's gonna, he gets to determine it. Jaren Triple J. Jaron Jackson Jr. Was one selection away from the biggest bag in NBA history. 22 points a game, all star all defense. Still not enough to crack the all NBA. Triple J showed the numbers, were they? Too many big names, too few spots. And just like that, just like that, Triple J misses out on a Supermax contract. 350 million. What he could have signed for 150 million instead, $200 million. Abracadabra vanished.

[Unknown]

I'm going to the border.

[Colin Cowherd]

Sometimes it's not about what you did, it's about how crowded the room was.

[Unknown]

That's not fair.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's where you ride the merry go round. Get candied apples, cotton candy and you know, sometimes you can see a pig. The bearded lady and the tentative at the fair.

[Unknown]

Hey, you know, that's not fair.

[Colin Cowherd]

You get what you. You get what you earn, not what you deserve. So let me ask you a question. Who you taking off the all NBA selection teams? Who you taking off and putting them on there for?

[Unknown]

Not it. No, it ain't. No. Ain't nobody to take off because they on there for a goddamn reason.

[Colin Cowherd]

And that's. And that's what I tell when people say, man, he should have gone to the Pro bowl, who you taking off? He should have been a nonstop. Who you taking off?

[Unknown]

Yeah, but the fact that if you've made it, if you were able to make it, and the difference in money you get when you do.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, my good. I've been there. I've been, I've been to situations. Ocho that the Pro Bowl I had more catches, more yards and more touchdowns and somebody went to the Pro bowl in front of me and my team went to the playoffs.

[Unknown]

When that happened, I guarantee you on the back End.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Oh yeah, I can tell you that. Yeah, I know how that goes.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yep.

[Unknown]

Damn.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, had more catches yards than touchdowns. Couple of times I was second in yards, catches and touchdowns.

[Unknown]

Hold on. So because he didn't make the NBA.

[Colin Cowherd]

You needed to be. You needed to make one of the three all NBA teams, first single, the third team, or be an MVP. That'll definitely help.

[Unknown]

200 million down the drain.

[Colin Cowherd]

200 gone just like that. See Shay, MVP. No. Now if you're the MVP, you know you're gonna be all NBA. You can sign a four year 294 or five, 380.

[Unknown]

Which one you taking four for?

[Colin Cowherd]

294.

[Unknown]

And Shea is only what, 26? Oh, he finna hit him across the head again.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Unknown]

Jesus Christ.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yup. So guess what? When he's able to come up again, It'll probably be four 30 max contracts.

[Unknown]

Now regarding. Regardless of being older, he'll still be able to get that.

[Colin Cowherd]

He'll still be eligible for it. Now once you get to like 36 Ocho, I don't think you can do more than a two year deal.

[Unknown]

Right? Okay. Okay.

[Colin Cowherd]

Because they didn't want to play. You know, they want. Cause you know, old player be 40 years old. Hey, I want five years. No. Damn. Well, you ain't gonna be playing. You're 45. But you had money gonna come in, in the light. I think that's what it is. Right. After you get to a certain age in the NBA, you can only sign two year, two year deals. Because I think that's what happened to LeBron.

[Unknown]

Oh, I thought he was choosing and purposely choosing to sign two years on purpose.

[Colin Cowherd]

No.

[Unknown]

Oh, that's crazy.

[Colin Cowherd]

He signed two years. But it's one plus an option. Go ahead. Yeah, so it's over 38. Okay, so 38. So theoretically Shay might get two. Got three of these. Cause he'll go from 30, 26 to 30, right? 30 to 34.

[Unknown]

He didn't do another one on the back end of two year.

[Colin Cowherd]

He might do a billion dollars in contracts.

[Unknown]

Hey, you know what's funny? He worth every goddamn dime.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, for sure.

[Unknown]

There's really nothing you can argue about when it comes to him. No, he will complain.

[Colin Cowherd]

I love everything about the young man. I love the way he carries himself. I love how hard he plays. I love the grind that he's put in, the work that he's put in. And to see there's nothing better than seeing a plan come together. When you work extremely hard for something and you see like damn, finally. Because all I want to do all I wanted to do. Come follow. To see what the summer had. Did what I did in the summer. Did that ish play off. Yeah, it did. Yeah.

[Unknown]

What's funny? When you, when you put the work in, when you put the hours in, no matter what you do in life, no matter what it is, you always, always. No matter what.

[Colin Cowherd]

Ain't no way around it, Ocho. Every time and then. And you never have to sit back. You never have to sit back. Not one, not one time have I ever thought back about my NFL career and says, man, if I had just done this, if I had ate better, if I had trained, if I had studied, I had no regrets. I got everything out of my God given ability. Everything. I squeezed it all, Ocho, you know, I had orange juice and then I ate the pulp. You know, I used the zest, the orange zest for cooking. So I got everything out of the orange, was nothing left. Walk away with your head hell high. You accomplished everything. Pro bowls, all pro Super Bowls.

[Unknown]

You.

[Colin Cowherd]

And you're in your team's ring of fame. You're one of the 50 greatest players that played for your team. What?

[Unknown]

Nothing more.

[Colin Cowherd]

You gotta ask for nothing. Nothing. Because all I wanted was an opportunity to play in the NFL. Man, let me play in the NFL. Two, three years. I can say I played. A lot of people don't get an opportunity to say that. Play that. And they played high school and played college. That was my goal, playing the NFL. Hey, get granted out of this. That was it, Ocho. I mean, look, yeah, I wanted. I wanted two. I wanted three things really for me that was tangible I could put my hands on. I wanted a Rolex. I wanted a Ferrari. And I wanted a house. Air conditioned, indoor plumbing and running water. I got it. I'm good.

[Unknown]

I like that.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's it.

[Unknown]

I like that.

[Colin Cowherd]

I ain't on the way I live now. I never thought that was possible. Hey, hey, even if I just had me a little. One of my window units. You remember we grew up. The window unit. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Unknown]

The AC in the window. Yeah, I know what you talk about. And listen, if you. And if you didn't have that, you had. We had theirs back in the day. You remember the, the fans, the portable. Yeah, My portable you plug into the wall. The little square.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah. Oscillating fan box fans.

[Unknown]

Yeah, One of them.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, yeah.

[Unknown]

One or the other.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. We had one that the blade would have broke off so you had to put a block on it because it'd be dancing Around.

[Unknown]

Dancing around.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Yeah. So we put a big old, big old block offender block on top of it. It stay right there. Kept it cool. Well, actually didn't keep it cool. It brought hot ass there because we ain't have no air conditioning. But that's all I wanted, Ocho. You know, get my grandma in that situation and I could have indoor plumbing, running water and air in the house that was air conditioned. Good boy. You couldn't tell Shannon Sharp nothing.

[Unknown]

I just. My, my. I'm trying to think. I kind of, you know, I've always lived a very, very, very simplistic lifestyle. Always live way below my means. My, my whole thing. Obviously wanted to play in the NFL. Wanted to make it really having no desires or, or understanding about, you know, Super Bowls and all that stuff until I actually got there and the meaning and how much they meant, you know, to. To a lot of people that played the game.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

But as long as I was able to play and have fun and do it my way and always wanted to make sure my kids were good.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Long. The kids were good. Anything that they need, anything that they want for that is taken care of and everything else, it didn't matter.

[Colin Cowherd]

The volume. Okay. Have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant. Their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And ° listen, that doesn't happen often. They admitted that they effed up and are bringing the original Cool Rush scent back. And it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. There's a reason it's the number one men's antiperspirant. And it's back in Walmart, Target and other stores for under $4. So try it and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local stores to try the OG Cool Rush for yourself.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Unknown]

Check.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Unknown]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.