Best of The Herd

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Best of The Herd

Date: May 19, 2026
Host: Colin Cowherd
Featured Guests: JJ Redick, Nick Wright
Main Focus: The rise of Victor Wembanyama as the NBA’s new face, his impact on the league and current playoff narratives

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on a thrilling NBA playoff matchup that has become a referendum on the future of the league. Colin Cowherd reacts to the San Antonio Spurs’ double-overtime victory, highlighting Victor Wembanyama’s historic performance and what it means for the NBA’s present and future hierarchy. The conversations are vibrant, touching on superstar legacies, team-building strategies, and ripple effects throughout the league. There’s expert analysis from JJ Redick and Nick Wright, comparing Wembanyama’s “arrival” moment with similar generational breakouts from LeBron James and Hakeem Olajuwon.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Victor Wembanyama’s Ascendancy and Dominance

• Wembanyama Becomes "The Face of the NBA"

  • Colin opens by declaring the significance of May 18, 2026, as Wemby’s official “arrival” as the face of the NBA, hailing his unprecedented skills and charisma ([03:12]).
  • “Last night, Wemby officially became the face of the league…Shooting from thirty feet, you got a little Steph, blocks like Wilt, alley-oops like Shaq, twenty-four rebounds…We’re creating new boxes for him.” – Colin Cowherd ([03:12]).
  • He draws comparisons to Wilt Chamberlain and discusses Wemby’s gravitational effect—“Everything moves around Wemby” ([09:05]).

• Record-breaking Stat Lines & Historical Parallel

  • Wembanyama’s 41 points, 24 rebounds, and multi-faceted dominance equaled the best postseason game since 1962, per Colin ([08:41]).
  • “It’s the best game since 1962—Wilt against the Celtics.” – Colin Cowherd ([08:41])
  • Cowherd likens witnessing Wemby to seeing a “UFO”: “Last week our government released U.F.O. files and I was skeptical; I watched last night and I’m thinking—oh, they are among us. It’s Wemby.” ([08:41])

• Wemby’s Intangibles: Confidence and Team Chemistry

  • Praises Wemby’s “confident, not arrogant” personality and his ability to bring teammates and fans together ([09:05], [13:11]).
  • “Sometimes in life, folks…look at him, they love this guy—you know who else loves him? Adam Silver. I can’t take my eyes off him.” – Colin Cowherd ([13:11])

2. Emerging Spurs Dynasty and Supporting Cast

• Dylan Harper & Stefan Castle: The Next Great Tandem

  • Harper praised as the best rookie guard since Magic; “Dylan Harper’s 20, I’ve never seen a rookie guard this good since Magic. Seven steals, 24 points, 11 rebounds, never turns the ball over, lightning quick…” – Colin Cowherd ([03:12])
  • Castle’s defense and toughness highlighted, triggering problems for SGA.

• Spurs’ Youth and Ceiling

  • “Their three stars are 20, 21, and 22. I feel like I’m watching a galaxy form; it’s beginning to orbit around Wemby’s gravitational pull.” – Colin Cowherd ([03:12])
  • Spurs lauded as more entertaining than OKC and on the cusp of a dynasty.

• Spurs’ Role as NBA’s New Domain

  • Discussion of potential dynastic run, contingent only on Wemby’s health.

3. OKC’s Place & SGA’s MVP Narrative

• Defending the MVP: SGA Analysis

  • “I love SGA—SGA only led the league in one category: free throws. Didn’t lead any major category.” – Colin Cowherd ([09:05])
  • Redick and Cowherd agree SGA is a tier below generational greats like MJ or Kobe: “SGA’s got a kind of singular dimension game…you can physically bully him.” – Colin Cowherd ([16:47])

• Strategic Shortcoming

  • Casts doubt on OKC’s ability to compete long-term with Wemby-centric Spurs, especially given “Caruso guarding Wemby” as an act of desperation ([15:47]).
  • “What does it tell you that Oklahoma City…is like, let’s put Alex Caruso on [Wemby]?” – Cowherd ([15:47])

4. The League-Shifting Impact on Team Building

• What Do Other Teams Do Now?

  • Lakers, rest of the West, and even OKC must rethink superteam structures and perhaps target players like Giannis to remain competitive ([14:00], [35:39]).
  • “If you’re the Lakers…you have to be thinking the only thing we can do to compete is get Giannis—that’s it. That’s all we can do.” – Colin Cowherd ([14:00])

• Potential for Major Trades (“The Giannis Sweepstakes”)

  • Nick Wright and Cowherd speculate on whether OKC, rich with assets, would pursue Giannis or another superstar to keep up ([36:55]).
  • “Could all of a sudden one of the teams in the Giannis sweepstakes be Oklahoma City?...I think that’s a fascinating hypothetical.” – Nick Wright ([37:13])

• Knicks as Dark Horse Beneficiary

  • Nick Wright flags the Knicks as an indirect winner if the West beats itself up in war, possibly giving New York a Finals edge ([41:00]).

5. Defining Basketball Eras: Parallels to LeBron and Hakeem

• Wemby’s “LeBron Moment”

  • Cowherd and Wright agree Wemby’s Game 1 was his equivalent to LeBron’s legendary 2007 Eastern Conference Finals breakout ([22:32], [29:23]).
  • Notable quote: “That was his moment last night where he told everybody, ‘I’m better at this than everyone else. I just am.’ And I give him massive credit for it.” – Nick Wright ([29:23])

• Historical DNA: Wemby & Hakeem

  • Wright draws a poetic comparison to Hakeem Olajuwon’s 1995 revenge game against David Robinson, with near-identical stat lines and narrative ([47:04]).
  • “And then Wemby…did the same thing. Two guys, international, unprecedented big men, saw someone else win an award, and then they went and embarrassed that guy on their home court. It’s pretty special.” – Nick Wright ([47:04])

• Six Uniquely Transformative Players

  • Cowherd lists six unique talents in his lifetime: Dr. J, Magic, Steph, Shaq, LeBron, and now Wemby ([45:39]).
  • “There are six players that have in my lifetime—they are just different…Wemby. Wemby last night, I’m like, okay, there are things here…he is so unique and I think those kind of legacies last.” – Colin Cowherd ([45:39])

6. Additional Key Moments

• Aaron Rodgers: The Mysterious Return

  • Brief non-NBA interlude on Aaron Rodgers’ enigmatic presence ([13:25]).
  • “He’s a mysterious guy…he was out there, obviously getting a lot of rest with the guys, and whatnot…and we’re really excited to have him back.” – Aaron Rodgers Commentator ([13:11])
  • Cowherd frames Rodgers as the “interesting friend who disappears for a while, and you’re not going to rely on him.” ([13:25])

• LeBron’s Free Agency & Value

  • Wright suggests every contender would try to sign LeBron for a discount: “If the reports are true that LeBron…would take the mid-level, maybe even the minimum—yeah, we’d like to be in the LeBron James business…” ([44:43])

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Last night, Wemby officially became the face of the league.” – Colin Cowherd ([03:12])
• “It’s the best game since 1962—Wilt against the Celtics.” – Colin Cowherd ([08:41])
• “Do I feel like [I’m the best player in basketball] right now? I feel tired…but it’s not a question I’m wondering right now. We’ll see…The world is eight billion people, so it’s eight billion opinions.” – Victor Wembanyama ([25:16])
• “Their three stars are twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two. I feel like I’m watching a galaxy form; it’s beginning to orbit around Wemby’s gravitational pull.” – Colin Cowherd ([03:12])
• “That was his moment last night where he told everybody, ‘I’m better at this than everyone else. I just am.’” – Nick Wright ([29:23])
• “There are six players…that are just different: Dr. J, Magic, Steph, Shaq, LeBron, and Wemby.” – Colin Cowherd ([45:39])
• “Two guys, international, unprecedented big men, saw someone else win an award…then went and embarrassed that guy on their home court. It’s pretty special.” – Nick Wright ([47:04])

---

Timestamps: Important Segments

• Opening Wemby Take/Declaring the Shift – [03:12]
• Wemby’s Statline/Ghostly Uniqueness – [08:41]
• Wemby’s Impact on Offense, Spurs’ Supporting Cast – [09:05]
• Team-building Responses, Giannis Speculation – [14:00], [35:39]
• JJ Redick Spurs-OKC Analysis – [15:24]–[18:15]
• Comparisons to LeBron’s 2007 Arrival – [22:32], [29:23]
• Evaluating SGA’s MVP Candidacy – [31:33]
• Knicks as Finals Dark Horse – [41:00]
• Defining Uniqueness: Wemby, Hakeem, and NBA Legacy – [45:39], [47:04]

---

Summary & Takeaways

• Victor Wembanyama has redefined the NBA’s present and future, pairing historic numbers with an unprecedented combination of size, skill, and relatability.
• The Spurs’ young core—Dylan Harper, Stefan Castle—may usher in a new dynasty, reminiscent of hallmark NBA tandems, only with a modern twist.
• OKC faces urgent existential questions despite being defending champs, as Wemby appears to have changed the calculus of team-building overnight.
• Narratives from past eras—LeBron’s 2007 breakthrough, Hakeem’s vindictive greatness—frame Wemby’s arrival as not only a statistical marvel but a dramatic, generational turning point.
• Around the league, the seismic impact is evident: trade rumors, superstar movement (Giannis, LeBron), and even the playoff hopes of dark-horse teams like the Knicks are being reassessed in Wemby’s shadow.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand not just the results, but the new order of gravity in the NBA.

Transcript

[Apple Card Advertiser]

this is an iheart podcast guaranteed human brought to you by apple card hey you could be earning two percent daily cash back on that purchase and that one and even that one that's because apple card users earn two percent daily cash back on every purchase including everyday items they buy online or in store when using their apple card with apple pay not an apple card customer you can apply in the wallet app on iphone subject to credit approval apple card issued by goldman sachs bank usa salt lake city branch terms and more at apple co benefits it's smart to always

[Discover Advertiser]

have a few financial goals and a really smart one you can set earning cash back on what you buy every day and with discover you can get this discover automatically matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year seriously all of it and we trust you to make smart decisions i mean after all you listen to this show see terms at discover dot com credit card support for the

[Public Investing Advertiser]

show comes from public if you look at your investing app what do you see an interface stuck in nineteen ninety seven or something that looks modern but feels more like a casino than a place to build wealth public is different it's the investing platform for those who take it seriously on public you can build your portfolio for the long haul stocks options bonds crypto it's all there but what really makes public public different is the technology behind it imagine starting your day with an ai summarized market briefing getting clear summaries of earnings calls the moment they end or turning any idea into an investable index just by typing a prompt this is what investing looks like when the tools finally catch up go to public dot com and earn a one percent uncapped match when you transfer your portfolio public investing for those who take it seriously ad paid

[Public Investing Disclosures]

for by public holdings brokerage services by public investing member finra sipc advisory services by public advisors sec registered advisor crypto services by zerohash all investing involves risk of loss see complete disclosures at public

[Electric Vehicle Advertiser]

dot com disclosures imagine never buying gas again ev's are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life drive daily with confidence everywhere you go most americans drive forty miles a day most ev's are equipped with with two hundred to four hundred miles of range they've got fewer parts fewer repairs and fewer headaches with hundreds of new and used ev models available today there's an ev to fit every lifestyle and every budget i love my electric vehicle it's easy no more gas stations the way forward is electric learn more at electric for all dot org thanks for

[Colin Cowherd]

listening to the best of the herd podcast be sure to catch us live every weekday on fox sports radio at noon to three eastern nine am to noon pacific find your local station for the herd at foxsportsradio dot com or stream us live every day on the iheartradio app by searching fox sports radio or fsr this is the best of

[Show Announcer]

the herd with colin cowher on fox sports radio

[Colin Cowherd]

here we go it's a tuesday we are live it is the herd wherever you may be however you may be listening so many thoughts so many angers eagles thanks for making us part of your day spurs take game one on the road double overtime watching that game last night various times i thought it makes everything else in the west so irrelevant really think austin reeves and luca are gonna take down wemby over the next five years i mean that is unbelievable mark this date down last night may eighteenth twenty twenty six last night wemby officially became the face of the league he did before the game sga won the mvp motivating him wemby won the night and the game he is now the movie poster for the nba shooting from thirty feet you got a little staff blocks like wilt alley oops like shaq twenty four rebounds humiliating the other bigs like he did rudy go bear the t wolves folks i don't know how many more boxes he can check we're creating new ones i've seen a unicorn i'd never seen a wemby i don't know what the series is going to be eventually i don't think sga my guess won't have the worst plus minus of anybody on the floor you know i took san antonio to win it i think it's going seven but you are watching two things happen simultaneously the beginning of a dynasty and potentially the blooming the beginning of the greatest basketball player we've ever seen he's not there yet i don't think he's fully refined offensively dylan harper his running mate you know magic got kareem gotta have somebody else shaq kobe mj pippin dylan harper's twenty i've never seen a rookie guard this good since magic seven steals twenty four points eleven rebounds he never turns the ball over lightning quick he'll be all nba either by next year or the year after so we've had great tandems in this league dylan harper and wemby is all time stuff the only question for the spurs and you're thinking the same thing i am they're much more entertaining to watch than okc okc honestly feels like they feel like a supporting character as defending champs they do they're just not that entertaining i cannot keep my eyes off san antonio and the only question is number one when does the dynasty start and number two cross your fingers at seven feet four can wemby stay healthy for twelve years and become the greatest basketball player of all time that's one of the magic gifts of lebron dude never gets hurt or brady i mean the rest of the west i'm watching last night the rest of the western conference feels so inconsequential where is giannis going to end up who cares is lebron coming back yeah whatever how long is steph gonna play neat feels like a local story wemby stefan castles their bully dylan harper more draft picks pick swaps coming i mean and this this is the bottom of san antonio's powers their three stars are twenty twenty one and twenty two i feel like i'm watching a galaxy form it's beginning to orbit around wemby's gravitational pull it's just crazy he humiliated rudy gobert four time defensive player of the year they don't even want to put holmgren on him put alex caruso on him we don't want to humiliate holmgren it's incredible and i don't think the nba needs a face of the league i never have i don't think there's actually been that many magic and bird felt like it shaq kind of felt like it i don't was duncan face of the league jordan was clearly clearly but boy you get it with wemby good looking stylish cool confident outspoken like he is everything you could ask for we get so lucky sometimes in sports that our best stars look at him pose there is that the best or what look at his teammates they love him there's no animosity there's no jealousy and i'm looking at the numbers this morning since early february if wemby just gives you fifteen minutes just fifteen minutes spurs are thirty seven and three what what look at the postseason numbers it's wilt plus in fact last night i looked this up forty one points twenty four rebounds three assists three blocks it's the best game since nineteen sixty two wilt against the celtics i i mean last week our government released ufo files and i was skeptical i watched last night and i'm thinking oh they are among us it's wemby here he is after

[Victor Wembanyama]

a game like tonight is the best way to get experience we paid five quarters we're learning and by the time we get the experience we'll compensate with our effort we want to win everything and we have the chance to have people above us in the organization that know

[Colin Cowherd]

how to do that i mean the whole mvp thing is so absolutely crazy i love sga sga only led the league in one category free throws i mean the bottom line is everything moves around wemby you could say well the defense does do you realize the spurs led the nba in corner threes you have to collapse on wemby he changes the calculus of everything everything everything they do offensively you have to account for wemby that's why stefan castle dylan harper these guys are going to get open jumpers for the next decade man if you're a shooter get to san antonio do the heels go get a go get a mike miller and a shane battier and a ray allen go bring on these bring a veteran who can can't do much but hit threes hey steph curry play a couple years in san antonio i get an idea where you could go after that i mean it it it and i like sga a lot it didn't lead any major category i mean they they subbed him out late they didn't want him on the floor defensively and i i i'm not picking yeah i'm not taking sides here but wemby is so good so refreshing so fantastic so likable so confident i mean i just never i'm sitting there thinking to myself the oh if you if you're a team like the lakers and you're the new dodgers owner the you have to be thinking the only only thing we can do to compete we got to go get giannis that's it that's all we can do and that'll help us for two years i mean i'm sitting there watching all these teams and i'm like if you're in the west i mean forget oklahoma city and again oklahoma city may win the they may win the series right i mean they're so deep i mean they have like they go ten deep but hartenstein and holmgren i mean they put caruso on wemby it's like yeah we're not even we're not going to try to put a big on him rudy gobert was four time defensive player of the year they took he basically wemby played rudy gobert off the floor i mean don't get me wrong gary payton couldn't stop mj but he made him work for it or we get to a point nobody can even make wemby work for it i mean that was wilt everybody goes oh bill russell eleven rings wilt dominated russell i mean fifty rebounds it just didn't matter that's what we're looking at here i mean it's just crazy what we're watching and he seems i mean i really like he he does a really good job he toes that line between confident and arrogant he's not arrogant he is confident you can tell the way his teammates rally around him they really like him they really appreciate him and that's not always the case we know the shaq kobe thing was that thing was a combustible dynamic that's not going to happen with wemby we know the celtics loved loved bird we knew the lakers loved magic but you get into these these dual star combos it's not always great you can really tell a lot about wemby by how that picture of him posing and all his teammates like laughing and they love this guy sometimes in life folks it's the i mean look at him they love this guy you know who else loves him adam silver i can't take my eyes off him oh oh eight teams eight teams started their otas yesterday michael pittman said of aaron rodgers arriving quote yeah he never told me anything i learned from twitter and alex highsmith said this it's awesome

[Aaron Rodgers Commentator]

having him back you know he's a he's a mysterious guy so having him back is awesome seeing him in the building today so yeah it's awesome it's great so he was out there obviously getting a lot of rest with the guys and whatnot and so really we're really excited to have him back you

[Colin Cowherd]

know leading our group he said he's mysterious i'd rather have my mystery in my latest netflix series i'd prefer my quarterback not beat db cooper and jfk and satoshi just me but i will say this aaron rodgers about six years ago in green bay changed course and whereas tom brady's football career was singular winning super bowls aaron suddenly was divergent he wanted to be known for more than football mission accomplished mysterious curious controversial lost his endorsements fascinating interesting i can take my eyes off him but not everybody chooses the same path and when i think of aaron i think of a lot of things and i think of football with brady and manning i thought of football that's okay he's become sort of that great friend you have who's a great hang and interesting disappears for a while you're not going to rely on him but you love being around him every couple of years where you been i haven't heard from you i would prefer my quarterback not be that but that's what he is early schedules very workable for the steelers aaron is officially back just nobody quite knew where he was until he put the helmet on and walked out to the practice field j mac i don't mean to gush and i don't know who's going to win that series but i had so many thoughts watching the game i think that was a really tough game you got the defending champs with a lot of experience older players maybe the best gm in all of professional sports and it just the spurs kept coming back and back and back and you're just sitting there thinking is this the year it's going to start right

[JJ Redick]

two things jump out colin first listen we've now got five games of data okay the last regular season game the guys didn't play and the spurs own them right now okay they've won four or five and wembanyama is unstoppable there is nobody who can guard him you you mentioning chet not guarding is chet afraid of him like holmgren had eight points took seven shots he was invisible in that game why wouldn't you put

[Colin Cowherd]

him on on what is it what does it tell you what does it tell you that oklahoma city a brilliantly coached and run and owned team is like one of their great assets is they have two legit bigs hartenstein and holgren and they're like let's put alex caruso on yeah i mean michael jordan as great as he was you know you'd go put your best guard gary payton on him you'd put a guard on him you you can't even it does you can't even put a big on him yeah so putting by putting

[JJ Redick]

the guards on him wemby's not just settled he took two three pointers last night he's like oh caruso on me i'm just going to go inside and catch lobs and it was game over and colin i know you don't want to bang on sga i've been yelling about this for months he is not built to handle castle and i didn't

[Colin Cowherd]

think harper was that good castle's giving

[JJ Redick]

him problems major harper had seven steals seven he was everywhere so if he can't get by those guys by the way sga one for five in both overtime periods blew a layup at the

[Colin Cowherd]

end of regulation sga is not michael or kobe he's not going to jump over you he's also not physically going to bully you so it's like a running back adrian peterson remember the great running back for the vikings he he could run over you run past you right he had like walter payton could do that walter payton could make you miss could bowl over you could outrun you best back i ever saw that's what made michael so great michael could maneuver around you he was quick he was vertical he could also bully you charles barkley had that he could run you over run past you for a forward wimby can do multiple things sga he's got kind of a singular dimension game which is he's quick and he's kind of long but you can he's physically not a terribly strong player you can bully him and that's that's kind of what stefan castle is a perfect remedy for sga what's sga superpower colin

[JJ Redick]

and don't give me the mid range because he's not getting the mid range anymore we've seen it for three years the guy's known not to jump he's

[Colin Cowherd]

got he's got good timing good touch

[JJ Redick]

yeah that's not a superpower his superpower is getting to the line and if he's not getting to the line maybe he is alex english like you said yesterday not to diminish him but he did not look like the best player

[Colin Cowherd]

on the on the thunder he's more like batman he doesn't have a superpower he's got a good teammate and he's got good gadgets around him yeah alex

[JJ Redick]

caruso hits eight threes the best game of his career by a mile and they lose without the aaron fox on spurs and for now i'm kidding that's

[Colin Cowherd]

a bit much all right so okay and you think i'm crazy saying wemby is the face of the league i'm going to give you i said last night is the beginning of wemby being the face of the league i'm going to take you back to the lebron night where he became face of the league we'll talk about that next be

[Show Announcer]

sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon eastern nine am pacific on fox sports radio fs one and the iheartradio app hey it's ben

[Ben Maller]

host of the fifth hour with ben maller would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey you're asking what in god's name is the fifth hour i'll tell you it's a spin off of the ben mather show a cult hit overnights on fsr why should you listen picture if you will a world where we chat with captains of industry in media sports and more every week explore some amazing facts about human nature and more listen to the fifth hour with ben mather on the iheartradio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast brought to

[Apple Card Advertiser]

you by apple card apple card users get two percent daily cash back on purchases made in store and online whether it's for big ticket items or everyday purchases when they use their apple card with apple pay now that's a benefit that's just too good to pass up you could be earning two percent daily cash back when you use your apple card with apple pay to buy turmeric for your signature curry two percent back on flights to visit the family in tucson and even two percent back on your kid's new tuba you might even be able to get two percent back on a tuba tutorial not an apple card customer you can apply in the wallet app on iphone subject to credit approval apple card issued by goldman sachs bank usa salt lake city branch terms and more at apple co benefits support

[Public Investing Advertiser]

for the show comes from public lately the line between investing and gambling has started to blur but let's be real you can't build actual wealth on a coin flip that's why public takes a different approach it's the investing platform where you can build a serious long term portfolio stocks options bonds crypto they have it all but unlike platforms that basically just give you a buy button public provides actual context so when you see volatility in your portfolio you aren't just staring at a chart you're reading a helpful explanation about why the stock is up or down you can even go deeper with the built in ai research assistant it's all about giving you the information you need to invest with conviction be right moral often go to public dot com and earn an uncapped one percent match when you transfer your investments public investing for those who take it seriously ad paid for by public holdings

[Public Investing Disclosures]

brokerage services by public investing member finra sipc advisory services by public advisors sec registered advisor all investing involves risk of loss see complete disclosures at public dot

[Electric Vehicle Advertiser]

com disclosures imagine never buying gas again ev's are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life drive daily with confidence everywhere you go most americans drive forty miles a day most ev's are equipped with two hundred to four hundred miles of range they've got fewer parts fewer repairs and fewer headaches with hundreds of new and used ev models available today there's an ev to fit every lifestyle and every budget i love my electric vehicle it's easy no more gas stations the way forward is electric learn more at electric for

[Colin Cowherd]

all dot org innovation is what gets

[Wasabi Advertiser]

your business to the big leagues and wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition break free from skyrocketing storage costs unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers you know the big guys wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world and here's why innovation from wasabi's ai enabled intelligent media storage wasabi air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals data deletion and ransomware wasabi has taken the lead in big league data storage remember wasabi is up to eighty percent less than the other guys and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data wasabi is another championship story check them out free at wasabi dot com comma wasabi hot cloud storage proud partner of

[Colin Cowherd]

the voluum podcast network foreign there eastern conference finals tonight ian o' connor two hours away great new york sports writer nick wright top of the hour victor wembanyama is twenty two years old i said last night he officially became the face of the league i think there's only been four or five i think we overstate that he's the face of the league does anybody remember the first lebron moment when he officially had no peers i would argue lebron was twenty two years old just like wemby it was the eastern conference finals two thousand seven like wemby lebron had battled older teams in the playoff like washington and the nets and then he met like wemby a number one seed it was the pistons forty eight points two overtime win just like wemby on the road just like wemby scored the last twenty five points in the game it's one of the greatest basketball efforts i've ever seen in my life again twenty two like wemby on the road like wemby facing a number one seed like wemby and lebron was exhausted after the game from that point forward he was a class of one there were no peers didn't mean he'd have great games every night didn't mean he'd win every playoff series i mean he left cleveland because he couldn't get a running mate that's why he left went to miami running mate michael jordan didn't do anything till pippen wemby's got his guys dylan harper and stefan castle but i remember that night because i remember watching it and thinking okay you've just done something even your predecessors who were all timers could not do twenty five straight points he blew past people he jumped over people he beat them down the floor he knifed through traffic he used his left hand he dunked with his right hand he hit threes he hit mid ranges they trapped him they double teamed him you could not stop lebron i'm showing the video just insane insane how dominant he was against a great defensive team oh that's interesting wemby faced a great defensive team last night on the road and humbled them lebron was exhausted here's wemby after

[Nick Wright]

do you feel like especially

[Colin Cowherd]

after this game that you're the best

[Nick Wright]

player in basketball

[Victor Wembanyama]

do i feel like it right now i feel tired but it's not a question i'm wondering right now we'll see you know the world is eight billion people so it's eight billion opinions

[Colin Cowherd]

that was something else that was a good night by the way i was watching sabres canadiens it was

[Show Announcer]

a good sports night be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon eastern nine am pacific brought

[Apple Card Advertiser]

to you by apple card apple card users get two percent daily cash back on purchases made in store and online whether it's for big ticket items or everyday purchases when they use their apple card with apple pay now that's a benefit that's just too good to pass up you could be earning two percent daily cash back when you use your apple card with apple pay to buy turmeric for your signature curry two percent back on flights to visit the family in tucson and even two percent back on your kid's new tuba you might even be able to get two percent back on a tuba tutor not an apple card customer you can apply in the wallet app on iphone subject to credit approval apple card issued by goldman sachs bank usa salt lake city branch terms and more at apple co benefits

[Colin Cowherd]

support for the show comes from public so it kind of feels like there's two types of investing platforms you got the old school brokerages that look like they were designed in like nineteen ninety five then you have those other platforms the ones that feel less like investing and more like a casino public is neither it's the investing platform for people who actually take this stuff seriously you know people who are serious about building their wealth because on public you can build a portfolio of stocks and options and bonds and crypto without all the bugs or the confetti retirement accounts yep high yield cash of course they even have direct indexing honestly this is what investing platform should look like modern design simple to use and customer support that actually cares go to public dot com cowherd and earn an uncapped one percent bonus when you transfer your portfolio that's public dot com cohert ad paid for

[Nick Wright]

by public holdings brokerage services by public investing member finra sipc advisory services by public advisors sec registered advisor crypto services by zerohash all investing involves risk of

[Aaron Rodgers Commentator]

loss see complete disclosures at public dot

[Electric Vehicle Advertiser]

com disclosures imagine never buying gas again ev's are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life drive daily with confidence everywhere you go most americans drive forty miles a day most ev's are equipped with two hundred to four hundred miles of range they've got fewer parts fewer repairs and fewer headaches with hundreds of new and used ev models available today there's an ev to fit every lifestyle and every budget i love my electric vehicle it's easy no more gas stations the way forward is electric learn more at electric for

[Colin Cowherd]

all dot org innovation is what gets

[Wasabi Advertiser]

your business to the big leagues and wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition break free from skyrocketing storage costs unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers you know the big guys wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world and here's why innovation from wasabi's ai enabled intelligent media storage wasabi air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals data deletion and ransomware wasabi has taken the lead in big league data storage remember wasabi is up to eighty percent less than the other guys and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data wasabi is another championship story check them out free at wasabi dot com comma wasabi hot cloud storage proud partner of

[Colin Cowherd]

the volume podcast network nick wright first things first is joining us live on a tuesday so i said i remember two thousand seven it was late may lebron twenty five twenty five straight this

[Nick Wright]

is the same take i did this on the volume podcast network two hours ago hey i gotta check i gotta check your streaming history you might have stolen my take colin god dog it that's what i was about to say to you may thirty first two thousand seven twenty two year old lebron and i was like he's just the best player in the world that's right kobe fans get mad at me they're like how was kobe never the best player in the world when he won the mvp in zero eight the title in zero nine the title in twenty ten i'm like well because that happened after i saw lebron do that and from that moment forward until he tore his groin on christmas his first year with the lakers from may thirty first two thousand seven until december twenty fifth twenty eighteen that guy was the best player in the world he just was and it felt like a different twenty two year old in the conference finals had that moment last night so we have the exact same take on this i think and again lebron at that moment colin had never won an mvp had not played in the finals game i wimby hasn't won an mvp and i don't know if they're going to win this series but that was his moment last night where he told everybody i'm better at this than everyone else i just am and i give him massive credit for it go ahead didn't mean to jump you i can't believe we're in the same spot no i mean

[Colin Cowherd]

i remember lebron was twenty two lebron was on the road lebron facing a great defensive team that was the number one seed lebron had previously beaten an old veteran team it's the same thing the difference is i mean this is what i love about the nba every single star magic staff lebron bird they they're all it's an art it's an artists league which is why i don't like repetitive three point shooting let the athletes be great athletes i i i'm okay with you know the guard shooting threes but you know here's the other thing that jumped out to me i said this months ago wemby changes the calculus on both ends sga is great he doesn't did this validate my opinion which is it's called most valuable player lebron should have been at fifteen years in a row wemby's the most valuable

[Nick Wright]

player in this league well you certainly looked at last night listen i have to be fair i thought i think mvp has to be given out based on the season you had with the only potential you know addendums being i do think it should be harder to win your second than your first and your third than your second like it should get increasingly difficult but shay's numbers were what they were his team's record was what it was when we missed time at the end of the year thirty two a game on fifty five percent efficiency i thought shay deserved to win league mvp but he's not the best player in the world and he might have had i think going into the playoffs colin most people myself i thought joker was the best player in the world same and then given what happened to joker in round one and given the fact that he hasn't been to forget the nba finals the conference finals in the last three years it felt like all right that door is open and then wimby throws that elbow he misses a game shay sweeps the lakers even though he's not brilliant in the series and it felt like yesterday around eight pm eastern shai gilgeous alexander became the best player alive he was handed his second mvp trophy his team was undefeated in the playoffs they were the huge favorite to win the championship and then by about eight fifty five pm eastern it's like nah he's not even the best player on the court and i i i don't think so i don't think wimby got snubbed just like in two thousand seven lebron didn't deserve to win mvp of the league even if in the playoffs he showed you he was the most valuable player and best player in the league i also i thought so much of last night was so fascinating and i don't want to over i'm not i don't think any of the stuff we're saying about wimby is prisoner of the moment i do think if people are saying the series is over that's prisoner of the moment i think okc absolutely can still win it yep this might feel prisoner of the moment colin but one of my biggest takeaways from last night is the take wimby and shea out of it the best big three on the court last night was in san antonio yeah i like dylan harper moving forward more than i like chet and i like castle moving forward more than i like j dub and so when you have that and then also i think wimby is just going to get better it does feel like even if they don't get it done this year san antonio it's weird there's a scenario where okc wins the championship it's second straight our first repeat champion in a decade and the team to beat going into next year is not them it's the spurs i think that's really on

[Colin Cowherd]

the board so it's interesting i had something else i thought of and i remember talking to bill polian years ago and he said we knew when we had peyton manning we were going to lead in the fourth quarter in most of our games so we wanted to get edge rushers yep and i thought that's pretty smart i can remember talking to a gm it's like when you played brady you had to have a pass rush you had to get to tom early because he would lead late and they'd run the ball in belichick's defense and so the really smart teams can see years ahead i'm watching him last night and if you're the lakers new owners bringing the band back is not competitive i thought to myself the answer is giannis for about three years that's it luca and austin reaves are not competing again this is not the nets this is the lakers it's about titles i thought he was so impactful last night that he is going to everybody else seemed inconsequential in the league would this not make you if you're the lakers thinking lebron if you're coming back we have to get bigger so

[Nick Wright]

i think for the lakers and for everyone in the league you are looking at it and saying okay at we are if we're in the west we're going to have to go through him to get to the finals and if we're in the east we you know a lot of the time we'll have to go through him in the finals so how do we counteract him and that to me was it's less about the lakers and more about giannis like i think giannis over the last few months his trade value seems to be dipping because it's like oh his age yep the injury history but i have watched healthy giannis matched up with wimby and i'm like man that's one of the only guys in the league that has the requisite athleticism strength and length you're right to give him a little bit of trouble no to where if i feel like i have like joker obviously can do it but joker's not going anywhere so if i am right like i do wonder if the spurs become the standard instead of the thunder does giannis become more even more attractive listen and then the nuke go ahead

[Colin Cowherd]

i think milwaukee was the second team to win last night i there's no question watching that game i thought i believe too giannis going down and i thought oh no no no no no that is giannis i think giannis is one of the only bigs that's strong enough to compete with him i thought

[Nick Wright]

the milwaukee strong enough and long enough and make him work on defensively to where he has a little less energy offensively listen the nuclear level take is this colin if what we saw last night and again i don't think it will i think this series is going to go seven saying okc is going to get their blows in but let's just say this is just wimby runs roughshod and chet is a shell of himself and they are guarding wimby with alex caruso because he's the only guy on the team up for the challenge even though he's a foot shorter than him again this is i wish i'll whisper this but not actually the nuclear take is could all of a sudden one of the teams in the giannis sweepstakes be oklahoma city could they be like we have all the assets we have all of this if we have to go through that guy yeah i know that kind of very anti what presti would do historically but san antonio's now beaten them five out of six if they and again i'm not predicting this but if they go on to win this series in five and it's like we played this team ten times they beat us eight times and our super tall skinny guy seems to have offended their super tall skinny guy in a previous life and he just eats his lunch every single game they play does that make giannis more attractive i think that is a fascinating at least

[Colin Cowherd]

hypothetical well they always say for for rich people you can't take it with you you got to enjoy some of it while you're here and my take is you can't use your seventh eighth ninth tenth best player and all these draft picks okay what are you going to do with them at some point you can't afford them use them give them give them four maybe give them a starter three benches three picks and chad holmgren i mean again having the deepest roster can't once you've won a title and then you see this enforcer down the road it's like okay we've got all this you know lack of a term money we've got all this draft capital it's time to use because i think i think the depth of okc is wonderful against everybody not named

[Nick Wright]

wemby and listen we'll see like there is you know we'll see the injuries that happened maybe the depth plays a bigger factor there there's i'm not again i don't want to they were massive favorites twenty four hours ago to win the whole thing yeah and the san antonio it's so crazy the way this is what i love about sports wemby stat lines on the screen forty one twenty three and three yeah with twenty seven seconds left in overtime he had twenty nine points and they were going to lose and then he hit a thirty footer lit him on fire and double overtime and now we're like do the thunder need to make massive changes that's how thin the margins are i want to throw something else at you since evidently you and i are of total like mind on what we were watching last night maybe we're not on this one biggest winner last night obviously wimy and by proxy kind of the league because after the last three years were like anthony edwards john morant jayson tatum who's the face of the nba after lebron it's this guy so wemby and them are the biggest winner you said giannis slash the bucks second biggest winner third biggest winner again maybe and maybe this is a little too galaxy brain ish might be the new york knicks if we're right that this series is going to be a seven game war okc golden state twenty sixteen style where whoever wins it comes out of it a little less than whole and a little worn out meanwhile the winner of the east had been resting for a week i and keep in mind the knicks beat the spurs in the nba cup the knicks beat the spurs at msg one of the last games the spurs lost in the regular season that wouldn't be played i do wonder if there is if the knicks feel like man if we can keep on this role and dispatch of cleveland quickly and these two guys are throwing absolute haymakers for two weeks does that give us a chance to jump on whoever wins this series in game one again probably the nba finals is playing out right now in the west but i do think there could be a little bit of damage done to each other in that series and if the knicks can get out of the east quickly it opens up a small window for

[Colin Cowherd]

him it does feel a little seahawks rams like whoever wins this game those are the two best teams and good luck new england you know i think i think the knicks are here's the problem with the knicks if they face san antonio stefan castle takes jalen brunson and it's just a really he that kid is a bullied unbelievable oh my

[Nick Wright]

god castle had the best eleven turnover game i've ever seen in my life this way how about this i heard them say on the broadcast they're like that was his eleventh turnover i was like it was i didn't even realize but he was still impactful how about

[Colin Cowherd]

this dylan harper he's the best rookie point guard in a big game i've seen since magic he is unfaced seven steals one turnover twenty five this is the best defense in the league he's on the road it's his first start he's an insane to me i always thought it was wemby and castle i think i think this kid in wemby could be first team all nba and castle second team and becomes their bully he becomes their backcourt bully well and

[Nick Wright]

it also makes them have a lot of flexibility with the aaron fox down the road if they want to use some picks and a big contract to add another piece themselves i dylan harper finding out an hour before tippy starting and responding with twenty four points eleven rebounds like you said one turnover seven steals in a western conference finals at twenty years old was absolutely remarkable i thought he was spectacular i thought obviously in a losing effort but the best player on the thunder yesterday was alex caruso who was up for the challenge on both ends of the court and was sensational and colin you'll like this you could maybe have your producers pull it at some point there's a great clip floating around today of caruso from five years ago after the lakers let him walk where he's on a podcast and he's laughing about how the lakers low balled him after he won a championship with them and prioritized taylor horton tucker and that's why he ended up with chicago yeah and the host of the podcast can't believe it and is cackling about the mismanagement of rob pelinka the host of that podcast is jj redick he's it's a nice little snapshot to twenty twenty one crusoe and jj laughing at polinka's expense now of course jj and polinka have a bit of

[Colin Cowherd]

a working relationship one more thing i got to ask a lebron question reports yesterday from shams blake griffin be nice to shams come on blake contenders are pursuing lebron you buy it yeah well

[Nick Wright]

yeah i mean i think that i think every single team that matters has reached out i would imagine i'm not reporting this at all i haven't talked to anybody but this is what i would imagine has happened every single team has reached out to rich paul and said hey if the reports are true that lebron if he leaves the lakers would take the mid level maybe even the minimum yeah we'd like to be in the lebron james business if we can get lebron james you know lebron james on the team for what isaiah joe makes you know what sign us up i do imagine that is true that every that i think the nuggets i think the celtics i think every single team that is trying to win the title next year that is trying to find out is it true we can get lebron you know for ten cents on the dollar if so you know consider us we we'd like to have a meeting i imagine that is

[Colin Cowherd]

true i i want to end with this i said as great as larry bird was i'd seen about eighty percent in the seventies as a kid it was rick barry i'd seen michael jordan be great but i saw about seventy percent of that called david thompson i'm showing my age but there are six players that have in my lifetime they are just different doctor j's highlights today would be as spectacular as any in thirty years magic a six nine point guard never seen it steph shooting range shaq's power and lebron at six nine and a half his speed to literally beat guards off the dribble shut down derrick rose chase down elite athletes and block the shot i've never seen anybody i mean he could be an nfl all pro tight end i don't even think we dispute that that's given and then wemby wembley last night i'm like okay there are things here literally the spurs lead the nba in three pointers from the corner people think he's a defensive player it's like folks you can't i mean he i think he's you don't have to be the league's never needed a face of the league but he's not only great he is so unique and i think those kind of legacies laugh last for i don't think there's that many players that literally are their games are unique i think he's one of six i really do well

[Nick Wright]

the thing is i so here's i don't know if this is agreeing with you or disagreeing with you but there was some real poetry in last night because the player he's always reminded me of and the player that i have always felt before he tries to chase down lebron and jordan the guy the first guy he wants to check off the list is akeem olajuwon the best international player ever is akeem wemby's coming for that the best defensive player since bill russell is akeem wemby's coming for that and then once he passes akeem then you then he you know tries to move up the list to become one of if not the greatest player ever and akeem was while he didn't shoot threes because back then you know only a handful of players shot threes he was the best mid range shooting big man ever he was the best defender in the league while being able to give you thirty a night wimby has taken all of that added seven inches of height and twelve feet of range and has been a different player but the reason last night was special was because we talked about a day in may in two thousand seven well may twenty fifth nineteen ninety five akeem olajuwon sat across the court from david stern as david stern handed david robinson an mvp trophy that akeem was damn sure belonged to him and hakeem said to kenny smith and anyone that would listen to i'm going to show the world who the mvp is tonight and thirty one years later nearly to the day wemby did the same thing akeem that night had forty one points sixteen rebounds four assists two steals three blocks wemby last night had forty one points twenty four rebounds three assists one steal three blocks thirty years thirty one years almost the day later two guys international unprecedented big men saw someone else win an award that they actually didn't really deserve but they thought they did and then they went and embarrassed that guy on their home court it's pretty special

[Colin Cowherd]

it is nick wright i almost stole his opening line good good thing i just got out of the way i

[Nick Wright]

mean it's unbelievable i mean it's unbelievable i do it like i literally you know by proxy made you money giving that take two hours ago on the volume and now you're now i can't even use it to open the tv show see you later pal brought to

[Apple Card Advertiser]

you by apple card hey you could be earning two percent daily cash back on that purchase and that one and even that one that's because apple card users earn two percent daily cash back on every purchase including everyday items they buy online or in store when using their apple card with apple pay not an apple card customer you can apply in the wallet app on iphone subject to credit approval apple card issued by goldman sachs bank usa salt lake city branch terms and more at apple co

[Electric Vehicle Advertiser]

benefits imagine never buying gas again ev's are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life drive daily with confidence everywhere you go most americans drive forty miles a day most ev's are equipped with two hundred to four hundred miles of range they've got fewer parts fewer repairs and fewer headaches with hundreds of new and used ev models available today there's an ev to fit every lifestyle and every budget i love my electric vehicle it's easy no more gas stations the way forward is electric learn more at electric for all

[Wasabi Advertiser]

dot org wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world check out wasabi's ai enabled intelligent media storage wasabi air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals wasabi driving innovation in data storage for up to eighty percent less than the other guys try for free at wasabi dot com comma wasabi hot cloud storage proud partner of the volume podcast

[Show Announcer]

network t mobile is reinventing business internet with super broadband whether you run a small office or a factory of five hundred connection is everything powered by america's fastest five g internet plus starlink super broadband from t mobile reaches every zip code in the us super broadband a new era of business internet visit superbroadband dot com to learn more presses five

[Public Investing Disclosures]

g network based on analysis by uklop speed test intelligence data two h twenty twenty five speed vary due to local network characteristics and management satellite requires hardware installation a clear view of the sky with thirty six month commitment this is

[Apple Card Advertiser]

an iheart podcast guaranteed human