Best of the Week on The Herd

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Best of the Week

Podcast Information

• Title: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
• Description: A thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.
• Episode: Best of the Week on The Herd
• Release Date: April 12, 2025

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1. Denver Nuggets' Turbulent Turnaround

Key Points: The episode opens with breaking news about the Denver Nuggets making significant organizational changes just days before the NBA playoffs. The Nuggets have fired both their head coach, Michael Malone, and General Manager, Calvin Booth, despite having won the NBA Championship in 2023.

Discussion Highlights:

• Jason McIntyre (02:45): "The Denver Nuggets, who won the NBA championship in 2023, have fired their head coach, Michael Malone, and their GM Calvin Booth. What is happening now?"

• Analysis of Team Performance:

  • Jokic's Dominance: Nikola Jokic was averaging an impressive 45 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in April (02:45). Despite his stellar performance, the team is struggling, raising questions about overall team dynamics and support.
  • Jamal Murray's Injury: The injury to Jamal Murray further complicates the team's playoff prospects, potentially impacting their seeding and performance.

• Interpersonal Conflicts:

  • Malone and Booth's Relationship: Reports suggest a toxic relationship between Malone and Booth, with both reportedly speaking ill of each other behind the scenes (03:50). This discord likely contributed to the decision to part ways with both executives.

• Organizational Strategy:

  • Veteran vs. Young Players: Malone's preference for veterans over young talent may have hindered the team's adaptability and performance. The GM's recent decisions, such as extending contracts with less effective players like Zeke Najee, have been criticized (05:00).

Notable Quote:

• Jason McIntyre (04:30): "There's nothing wrong with that. As a coach, you know that that can work for so long. But when you're not winning, the staff found some numbers... They were looking at being the 3 seed. They could potentially fall to the 6, 7, 8, maybe into the play-in."

2. Implications of Firing Malone and Booth

Key Points: The episode delves into the repercussions of firing Michael Malone and Calvin Booth at such a critical juncture.

Discussion Highlights:

• Colin Cowherd's Perspective (09:11): "It feels weak to your fan base. You're still in a playoff position, and you are throwing in the towel saying, I don't think we can win a championship. It just, it's not the mentality you want from a franchise."

• Potential Impact on Playoffs:

  • The Nuggets are in fourth place in the Western Conference, still holding a playoff position. Firing key figures at this stage may disrupt team preparation and chemistry.

• Historical Context:

  • Comparison to recent firings of other NBA coaches, such as Taylor Jenkins from Memphis, highlights a trend of pre-playoff organizational shake-ups (10:23).

Notable Quote:

• Colin Cowherd (10:10): "Why would you do this when you are in a position to win and you are in a high playoff position? There's something more that we don't know."

3. Luka Doncic's Trade to the Los Angeles Lakers

Key Points: A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to analyzing Luka Doncic's trade from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers, examining its impact on both franchises.

Discussion Highlights:

• Emotional and Performance Analysis:

  • Luka's emotional reaction to the trade, including his visible distress and subsequent stellar performance (27:47).

• Comparisons to Historic Trades:

  • The trade is likened to some of the most infamous in NBA history, questioning whether it was a strategic move or a franchise blunder (40:00).

• Impact on the Mavericks:

  • Jason McIntyre (46:35): "They're stuck in Purgatory. Luka's games played are high, but his lack of defense and recurring injuries are a concern."

• Impact on the Lakers:

  • Luka's integration with LeBron James and Anthony Davis is analyzed, highlighting both the potential and challenges of this new trio (48:09).

Notable Quotes:

• Jason McIntyre (42:00): "Luka's games played are high, but his lack of defense and recurring injuries are a concern."
• Colin Cowherd (43:09): "If Luka's able to stay healthy, he's on track to be a top 10 player all time."

4. Pressure on NBA Players Heading into Playoffs

Key Points: The hosts discuss which NBA players are under the most pressure as the playoffs approach, outlining the expectations and challenges these athletes face.

Discussion Highlights:

• Top Players Under Pressure:
  1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Viewed as the primary MVP candidate, facing high expectations to lead his team effectively (59:34).
  2. Jayson Tatum: Despite strong regular-season performances, Tatum is under scrutiny to elevate his playoff game (64:17).
  3. Ja Morant: Recent misconduct and on-court issues increase the pressure for Morant to perform consistently (63:00).
  4. Jimmy Butler: Transitioning to a new team, Butler must find his role and adapt to maintain his high performance level (60:00).
  5. Karl-Anthony Towns: Criticized for his defensive play, Towns is expected to improve to meet his offensive potential (65:00).

Notable Quotes:

• Jason McIntyre (59:34): "Jayson Tatum is still a young guy. He's the best player on that team. But there is some pressure for him to act and show that he is an elite top five guy in this league."
• Colin Cowherd (65:27): "Are your money skills total trash? Well, trust me, you are not alone."

5. Additional NBA Insights and Future Predictions

Key Points: Towards the end of the episode, the hosts provide further analysis on other NBA teams and players, discussing potential playoff scenarios and strategic moves.

Discussion Highlights:

• Golden State Warriors: Recent losses raise questions about the team's resilience and championship prospects (58:41).

• Dallas Mavericks' Future:

  • Speculation on whether the Mavericks' front office will make bold moves to salvage the season or retool for the future (55:15).

• Impact of Coaching Changes:

  • Rick Bucher (57:06): Highlights the long-term implications of firing a coach like Michael Malone, who had been with the team for a decade (57:28).

Notable Quotes:

• Colin Cowherd (58:27): "Golden State warriors lose at the buzzer last night. That's a troubling sign for their playoff hopes."
• Rick Bucher (57:08): "Mike Malone never really cultivated any relationships. He and Calvin Booth were completely at odds from almost the start."

6. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Summary: The episode concludes with reflections on the tumultuous week in the NBA, emphasizing the unpredictability of the playoffs and the high stakes involved for both teams and individual players.

Notable Quote:

• Jason McIntyre (53:36): "If Luka's able to stay healthy, he's on track to be a top 10 player all time. That's just a fact."

Key Takeaways:

• Organizational Stability is Crucial: The Denver Nuggets' decision to fire both the coach and GM highlights the importance of cohesive leadership, especially during high-pressure times like the playoffs.

• Impact of Star Players: Luka Doncic's trade to the Lakers underscores how pivotal star players are to their franchises and how their movement can reshape team dynamics and future prospects.

• Player Performance Under Scrutiny: With the playoffs imminent, top NBA players face immense pressure to perform, balancing personal expectations with team success.

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Notable Quotes Summary:

• Jason McIntyre (02:45): Discusses the Nuggets' unexpected firing of key personnel despite Jokic's performance.
• Colin Cowherd (09:11): Criticizes the Nuggets' organizational decisions as weak during playoff positioning.
• Jason McIntyre (42:00): Highlights concerns over Luka Doncic's defensive capabilities and injury history post-trade.
• Jason McIntyre (59:34): Emphasizes the pressure on Jayson Tatum to lead as an MVP candidate.
• Colin Cowherd (65:27): Announces upcoming segments and transitions.

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This episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd provides an in-depth analysis of the latest NBA developments, focusing on team management changes, high-profile player trades, and the mounting pressures on leading athletes as the playoffs approach. The hosts offer a blend of factual reporting and personal opinions, enriched with timely quotes and expert insights, making it a comprehensive overview for listeners keen on understanding the current sports landscape.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Alex Curry]

Colin I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Are you a small business owner launching a company or dreaming of starting one? Then check out season three Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeart's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks hosts Austin Henquitz and Jenice Torres as they talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their businesses. You don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business Small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox sports radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

[Jason McIntyre]

Now let's get this party started. You're listening to FO Sports Radio. Never a dull moment in the NBA. Breaking news. The Denver Nuggets, who won the NBA championship in 2023, have fired their head coach, Michael Malone, and their GM Calvin Booth. Ladies and gentlemen, the playoffs start in like 10 days in the NBA. What is happening now? I was scurrying during the break to get some information. It's so weird because I think yesterday I alluded to Denver being a bit of a mess and this morning I saw that Jamal Murray's hurt. And the way Michael Malone is talking lately, he's just talking kind of wild. But that has historically been his M.O. he's a queens guy, grew up in the Northeast. He's a tough talker. He's a little combative. Do you remember when the Lakers beat Denver one game in that series in the playoffs and he came back and oh, the Lakers won one game. He's just basically, you guys are talking trash about us. I can't believe it. We're going to destroy them, he said. Like, put it in your pipe and smoke it. He was really just aggressive and this is his nature. And there are reports I'm reading that maybe he was kind of sort of losing the locker room in Denver. Again. He is a mouthy individual. There's nothing wrong with that. As a coach, you know that that can work for so long. But when you're not winning. The staff here found some numbers for Jokic in April. Okay, this is real. He's averaging 45 points, 12 boards and 10 assists in the month of April. They're.03. Like, how are you not winning in crunch time? They were looking at being the 3 seed. They could potentially fall to the 6, 7, 8, maybe into the play in they don't have any wins with Jokic putting up huge stats. Now obviously the Jamal Murray injury and Jamal Murray always seems to be hurt. That's kind of damaging. You do have who I believe is the best player in the league, who I would have as MVP in Nikola Jokic putting up historic rate numbers. But it just doesn't seem to be working now early in the season and Murray hasn't played in the last two weeks because he's. He's so banged up. And obviously that hurts. You know, Christian Brown and Russell Westbrook. That's not a backcourt that scares anybody. But one of the interesting things about Denver is that Malone historically doesn't like playing young guys. They don't always know how to play. There's a steep learning curve. You got to deal with a lot of dumb turnovers and bad shots. He likes to lean on veterans. So the GM of the Nuggets gave this big fat contract to Zeke Najee, who was one of these combine warriors, one of these workout dudes who's like, measurements through the roof, checks all the boxes he gets on the court, he can't play. And the GM still gives him a big extension, which was a blunder. They paid Michael Porter Jr. I don't know that he could guard half the guys in my men's basketball league. I like Aaron Gordon a lot. I think he's a good piece. I think Jokic is obviously a superstar. I didn't like the Russell Westbrook move, but it speaks to Malone having influence on the gm. Hey, man, go get me a veteran who's going to try hard and hustle. Michael Malone loves a good try hard, but the narrative of Denver trying hard is not there because they're not stopping anybody now. So you got mpj, doesn't play defense. Russ is a bit of a train wreck and out of control. Jokic is dominating, but looking around like, where's my help? And Jamal Murray's in street clothes again. So Denver is slip sliding badly in the West. And as the staff pointed out to me, Taylor Jenkins was fired by Memphis last week. They were in the top five in the West. And Ryan, who, you know, a longtime producer, he was actually my first radio show producer when I had a weekend show, said something smart. He's like, you know what? It kind of sort of feels like these teams don't think they can compete to win a title this year. So they're getting ahead of the coaching cycle for this summer. Hey, man, we ain't gonna win. Let's just see if the assistant can be promoted. Let's see what he can do. If we could change some of the voices in the locker room. And let's think about the summer. So Memphis fires their coach two weeks before the playoffs. Denver fires their coach a week before the playoffs. The problem is Malone just won a title. He's the winningest coach in franchise history. He's been there for 10 years, and you fire him a week before the playoffs. Now, the staff is sending me some good stuff here. According to Ramona Shelburne, the situation in Denver is been tense and pressurized since the beginning of the year. Malone and Booth had big ideas and strong wills. Both are now gone. Again, this was a weird mix in the locker room. Apparently Booth and Malone didn't really like each other and get along. They did not talk and they spoke behind each other's backs. That's toxic, man. When are we going to start reading about. Are the Denver Nuggets wasting Jokic's prime? I mean, that's probably got to come next. Now, I did see one of my buddies who's a huge Knicks fan. I mean, the body's not even cold in Denver and Knicks fans are like, can we get Michael Malone for Tibbs? Can we, can we do that trade? Can we run up, move off Tibbs? Tibbs, by the way, in New York, is running his players into the ground. I think four, like the top 30 players, minutes wise, are on the Knicks. And you know what's going to happen when they get to the playoffs? They're going to be broken. Same thing happened to Tibbs in Chicago. Could Michael Malone, who instantly is going to vault to the top of every wish list around the league, hey, man, I would not be surprised if there's NBA teams right now looking, do we love our guy? Should we go after Michael Malone? I mean, I, I don't know that the Phoenix Suns would do it, but remember, they ran off Frank Vogel, who I saw at an event a couple of weeks ago. Very nice guy. Does watch the Herd shout out to Frank. They fired him after one year. Well, Budenholzer comes in, he beefs with Kevin Durant. The videos are out there now. KD has downplayed it, but would the Suns move off another coach? 2, 1 and Dones, and bring in Michael Malone? I don't know. It's possible, but. Oh, my gosh, Alex, any. I know it's. It's just breaking and we're trying to get, get our bearings here, but it's just kind of fascinating firing a coach 10 days before the playoffs.

[Colin Cowherd]

It feels weak. It feels weak to your fan base. It feels weak to the organization. You're still in a playoff position. You are in fourth in the west right now, and you are throwing in the towel saying, I, I don't, I don't think we can do it. I don't think we can win a championship. It just, it's not the mentality you want from a franchise. An organization at like the most important stretch of the regular season when you're in a playoff position, you. You suck. Like, you. Oh, man. Like, you tough it out. You tough it out. Like, what are you gonna do? Someone's not gonna come in and make it better right now, the last week of the regular season and into the postseason. But it also, because we were talking about Russell Westbrook's body language yesterday when he was talking to the media, and now it all kind of makes sense. Like, oh, things were like, not good behind closed doors. And you might have thought that might have been the case. And he was kind of giving that energy and vibe off. And this is just.

[Jason McIntyre]

Whoo.

[Colin Cowherd]

It just. I, I don't agree with. When you are in a position to win and you are in a playoff position, a high playoff position, like, why would you do this?

[Jason McIntyre]

Something weird.

[Colin Cowherd]

Why would you. There's something more that we don't know.

[Jason McIntyre]

I've been waiting for the Memphis story to come out on Taylor Jenk Jenkins, and nothing's come out. It's been a week. Maybe they're still waiting to do the Tick Tock, but. And not Tick Tock, the app. Like the story of day to day, hour to hour. Got it. Okay, so we're still wait. We'll wait for that on Malone, but here's another interesting note. So the owner of the Denver Nuggets is Stan Kroenke, and he also owns the Rams. What do the Rams have a really unified front with McVeigh and Snead. They're like a tandem. They go everywhere together. They seem to get along great. They have a shared unified vision. It doesn't appear. And I, again, I don't know 100% if there is a shared unified vision between Booth and Malone, but it sounds like Booth wanted to mix in some young guys and Malone was like, no, thanks. I want veterans. Remember, he was reluctant to play Christian Brown at all. And I watched a video clip during the commercial about Brown meeting the media, and he just, he looks young, okay? He's playing with Jokic, Westbrook, Aaron Gordon. These guys have been around a lot of playoffs and Brown looks still kind of wide eyed and kind of shook and rattled. And I don't know if your coach and the GM are not on the same page, it ain't going to work. Listen, if Alex and I are not getting along or we totally disagree, this is going to look awkward and I think the audience is going to tell.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, but again, like, then let the GM go right now. Fire the gm, but keep your head coach yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

Malone has won so much.

[Colin Cowherd]

Like, it was a 20, 23. He won an NBA championship. He is your winningest coach in franchise history. He's been with the team for 10 years.

[Jason McIntyre]

His story coming from the Kings, where he got run off.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

Where again, he is a combative guy. And listen, you can only battle with management long enough when you're winning, right? Hey, I'm going to say what I want. I'm going to do what I want. We're on top. I don't give up. You know, now you're suddenly losing, sliding in the standings, and all of a sudden, maybe the locker room, then it's easy to move off of them, and you just make it a package deal. Let's get both of them the hell out of here.

[Colin Cowherd]

But not right now.

[Jason McIntyre]

Right now doesn't.

[Colin Cowherd]

You're. You're in fourth place. You still have, like, a winning record.

[Jason McIntyre]

There was video of Malone talking about Jamal Murray and talking about his team, and I think there was a loss Monday to the Pacers. That was what it was on Monday. And he came out and is basically like, yeah, nobody watches their minutes on film. Nobody watches film. He's, like, taking shots at his players. Like, I try to teach these guys to watch film. They don't want to watch film. Hey, listen, it's tough to teach an old dog new tricks. I'm sure it's difficult to tell veteran Russell Westbrook, who's been in the league for, like, 15 years, hey, man, let's watch some film together. Hey, I'm an mvp. I'm a triple double machine. I'm going to the hall of Fame. I'm good on the film. Carmelo Anthony ran into some of this at the end of his career when he's bouncing around. It's tough to teach old dogs new tricks. And it's like, I don't know. I'm not. I'm not ready to side with Michael Malone yet. Obviously, more information is going to come out. This literally just broke eight minutes ago. But the Denver Nuggets have fired their head coach. Who won a championship Must. It must have been like 20, 20, 23.

[Rick Bucher]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

2023 is, like, within the last two years. Yeah. Unbelievable. So we'll obviously talk about this next hour. We got a NFL running back in studio. That should be fun. Gotta love when breaking news hits, right? I'm gonna go get another coffee. Get ready for the Power Hour.

[Alex Curry]

Be sure to catch live editions of.

[Jason McIntyre]

The Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Alex Curry]

3030 I'm Colin Coward from the Herd for many, the American dream means starting your own business and working for yourself. If you're a small business owner, launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you also want to check out season three of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In every episode, hosts Austin Henkwitz and Jenice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss. From tracking money in and out to cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Jason McIntyre]

New Instagram teen accounts, automatic protections for who can contact your teen and the content they can see. Welcome to the herd. It's Wednesday. Jason McIntyre still in for Colin Cowher, joined today by Alex Curry. Alex, it was a phenomenal night in the NBA.

[Colin Cowherd]

It was so much fun. Also like watching Lakers okc. I'm like, this would be such a fun, spicy series when it, when and if they meet in the playoffs.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yes, yes, yes. Very exciting show today. We got a couple, one guest in studio. We got an NFL gambling guest. I'll do some over unders later in the show. Obviously some more NFL draft talk. But folks, I have to start with that amazing, amazing night in the NBA. No, I'm not talking about the Timberwolves blowing a 24 point fourth quarter lead. I'll get to my Knicks. Yes, I can call them my Knicks. Another gut wrenching loss to the Celtics, folks. I've got to start with the Los Angeles Lakers. Did you see what went down in the dust bowl last night? Lakers at okc. And we saw a phenomenal basketball game with one of the softest ejections I can recall in the NBA this season. It was laughable. Folks. It's the Lakers against the world. And it's official. You see Luca putting in this one handed shot there in the lane that put the Lakers up one with about eight minutes left in the game. And then Luka got ejected. You can see the official there tossing Luca. Luca made a basket and just talked trash to a fan. Now this fan is, you know, the typical meatball in the stadium who's always there. He has a history of talking to players, including Luka. And Luka let him know, hey man, I made that. Luca said some choice words, but the official happened to be right there. And what went down in OKC last night after Luka was ejected, I saw it. And we have our narrative for the postseason. It's the Lakers against the world. OKC fans went crazy. The OKC players were excited. Luka got run. And then if you went online and checked the temperature, folks, everybody hates the Lakers and it's official. It's the Lakers against the world. Here's Luka talking about his ejection last night, which was laughable. Yeah, I mean, you can see it that happened. But you know, I never got a fan of Jackson. Never. But if he's gonna talk, I'm gonna talk back like always. So that had nothing to do with the ref. So I didn't really understand. I mean, it was tough. I mean, we were right there. I think we fought the whole game. You know, we were done eight at halftime. We came. We came back in the third quarter. We were fighting, man. So it was tough to see that with this kind of situation that happened. And, you know, that's on me, too. So I can't let my team down like that. So the narrative is built. It's official, right? Luka is whiny and complains a lot. We don't like him. That's official around the league. And now he's a Laker, which compounds matters. And then LeBron also has the same, oh, he whines, he flops, he complains. He's better than Jordan, but I don't like him. And so now you put those two together, toss in a little Lakers history, and they're the biggest villains in the NBA. This Lakers team since the Curry Durant warriors, when they steamrolled the league and were unstoppable for two. Two championships. You. I think you could even compare this Luka LeBron pairing to the hate that LeBron and Wade got with the heels back in the day. If you guys remember that squad, this is a Lakers team. People just don't like them. People don't like them because they're great. I think they have the best one, two punch in the league. And I think if you watch these last two games against the Thunder guys, it's pretty obvious the Thunder do not match up well with Luka LeBron and Austin Reaves. And, yes, I'm tossing Austin Reaves in there. Now, I do want to add one other note. If you look around the west, when I say the Lakers are villains and they've got targets on their backs. Remember, Dylan Brooks of the Rockets has gotten into it with Luka and LeBron in the playoffs. Desmond Bain of the Grizzlies, he wants to go at LeBron. They've gone at it. We know Draymond Green and LeBron are friendly, but when Draymond and LeBron are on the court, it gets heated, folks. You can pick any team in the west, and there's beef with the Lakers or Luca. And then you toss in the referee factor. And I had to look this up during the meeting this morning, guys. Luca does not lead the league in technical fouls. Oh, but that's right. He missed about, I don't know, 30 games due to injury, and he's still near the top of the technical foul leaders. Luca's averaging like a technical foul a game. So you've got opposing teams don't like Luka and LeBron. Fans clearly don't like the Lakers and Luka and LeBron and oh, we're now going to toss in the referees who seem to have it out for Luca, who is prone to, to doing some jawjacking. That's his thing. But folks, nobody hates the Boston Celtics, the defending champs. They just don't. Nobody hates the Thunder. They're kind of still irrelevant despite being a 60 some odd win team. And I don't think anybody hates the Cavs. They just kind of exist. So I think all the attention now is going to be focused on the Lakers and Luca and LeBron and it's shaping up to be a pretty glorious NBA playoffs. I want to shift my attention now to the NFL and oh boy, here we go. A phenomenal headline on Yahoo. Sports. The Cowboys have a brilliant scouting network. They also have Jerry Jones. That's, that's genius headline work. Give that man a promotion. And it's really spot on. You could look at the Dallas Cowboys draft history, folks. The Cowboys in the last five or six years have drafted so well in the middle rounds when you're kind of sort of throwing darts. They got over shown in the third round. He has been a home run. I know he's injured, but he was great. Duron Bland, fifth round pick. You look back a little further, there's center Tony Pollard, Dalton Schultz. Those two guys have moved on, but they've drafted really well. And the Cowboys had a great run under McCarthy, right? Three straight years, 11 plus wins, and you're like, damn, you're great at drafting. But then you look around and Tony Pollard's gone and Dalton Schultz is gone. And all of a sudden you start looking around that roster and it's like we're getting kind of old. We're losing some players. Jerry's negotiating tactics, not great with Dak, not great with cd certainly not great with Micah Parsons. And it reminded me of that Jerry Seinfeld episode where he goes to the rental car place and Jerry's like, hey, I got my reservation for the car. They're like, oh yeah, we have your reservation, but we don't have any cars. And Jerry Seinfeld kind of loses his mind. He's like, wait a minute, you took my reservation, that's why I should have a car. And they're like, we know how reservations work. And Jerry Seinfeld, you don't. If you do, if you did know how the reservations work, you'd have my car. And there's kind of a parallel with the Cowboys here because they know how to draft well. They just don't know how to keep their guys. Folks, you could go through the entire roster, it's kind of devoid of talent. I mean, eventually, you know, this summer after the draft happens and everything, people break down the rosters by position group. And I'm just telling you right now, it's bleak for Dallas. You know, you look at their skill, position players, they're at least average or below around the league. Their offensive line got old quickly. It is below average. You look at the defense and they do have a couple nice pieces, but by and large their front seven mid at best. The Cowboys don't know how to hold on to guys. And there's really the finger to only point at one guy and that's Jerry Jones, who keeps botching these contracts. I mean, worse yet, he's compounding matters by trading away the valuable picks that they continue to hit on. Remember mid round picks in the NFL, guys, they're tough. You're kind of sort of throwing darts. The smart move is give me more picks because If I get 10, I'm probably going to miss on six. If I hit four, that's amazing. And Jerry Jones is trading away picks, folks. He gave up fourth round pick for Joe Milton, the quarterback he traded for Trey Lance, who's no longer on the roster. What about picking up Mingo, the wide receiver who did nothing. He's giving away valuable picks for guys who aren't really going to contribute. It's really a bizarre situation for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. And I'm going to be honest with you, like we're going to do over unders later in the show. And I really thought long and hard about the Cowboys under it is below where it has been under McCarthy. And you see these images here on the screen of fans kind of unhappy with Dallas. And then as I said, you look at that roster and you're like, are these guys that good? I mean, the Cowboys are priced a little bit ahead of the jets and Giants as they should be. They have a quarterback in Dak Prescott and a couple other pieces, but you look under the hood and there's just not much there. And it reminded me. So I took, I talked about this on the show. I coached this girls basketball team. We entered this tournament. It was a bunch of sixth graders. We had like an all star team, but we only had like one practice together. And we roll up to the tournament and our first opponent comes Out. The coach has a boombox on his shoulder. He's playing music all loud. The crowd is excited. We're like kind of wide eyed, like, what's going? Gee, what's going on? What do we get ourselves into? The opponent, they've got these jerseys that are all made up. They looked like they knew what they were doing. They score the first basket of the game, and I'm like, oh, geez, we're down 02. What do we get ourselves into? And then, of course, we proceed to full court, press them and steamroll them. We win like 29 to 7. One of the parents comes up to me afterward and says, jason, that whole boombox thing. And this team, they look good. You know what they say about Cowboys, right? All hat, no cattle. That's what that team was. They look good, they look the part, but they don't really. Can't back it up. And I thought about the Dallas Cowboys instantly. The all hat, no cattle. And that's kind of where we are, folks. I'm just telling you, you look at the roster for the Cowboys, I don't know that it's better than, say, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have no quarterback right now as we wait for Aaron Rodgers. Still, I'm keeping it real with you. My New York jets match the rosters together. Sure, the Cowboys have a quarterback and they have Michael Parsons and they have CD Lamb after that. I mean, the jets have more talent. The Eagles blow away, completely blow away anything The Cowboys have. The Niners lose, like six starters this offseason. Go put the Cowboys next to the Niners. Go look at those rosters and you tell me who's got a better one. Dallas is really sliding downhill and Jerry Jones is the only one to blame. You can't blame the scouting department. They're doing their job. Jerry isn't doing his job. So, Alex, we got a spirited show today. I'm very excited. I do also want to get to talking to you about White Lotus.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, you finally watched.

[Jason McIntyre]

Finally. You know, I'm old, so now I got to watch like half of it one night.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, you were flying home when the finale.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

So you had an excuse.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

You had to catch up. I'm happy you finally got there because it's like major Star wars ending, which I didn't see coming. Yeah, I don't want to. Yeah, yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

I grew up on the east coast, so watching sports on the east coast is tough. Lakers and warriors, when they're on, it's like 11:30 and it's like, oh, come on. But but out here, those games are done at like 8:39.

[Colin Cowherd]

West coast, best coast.

[Jason McIntyre]

Then you, yes, set it for sure. You could fire up the White Lotus. But coming up next here on the show, one NBA contender still has a major flaw. I'll tell you who it is. That's next here on the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.

[Rick Bucher]

Hey, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. And of course the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything. Life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem.

[Alex Curry]

To have the time to discuss.

[Rick Bucher]

And the fact that we've been friends for the the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive.

[Jason McIntyre]

Show on planet Earth.

[Rick Bucher]

Be sure to check out Covino Enrich Live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Ko Vino and Rich wherever you get your podcast. And of course on social media, that's Covino and Rich.

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Jason McIntyre]

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[Colin Cowherd]

And go straight to the action so.

[Jason McIntyre]

You can catch every moment.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's the powerful backing of American Express.

[Jason McIntyre]

Terms apply. Learn more@american express.com with Amex, all you.

[Alex Curry]

Renters out there, here's something from Rocket Mortgage you're going to want to hear now. Anyone who has ever rented before knows that feeling you get every month. Your hard earned cash gone. It's like throwing money away. Even more frustrating is the knowledge that every dollar you spent on rent is a dollar you could have put towards your future. It can make it feel like you'll never be able to save enough to afford a home of your own. And that's what makes what Rocket Mortgage is doing so special. Rocket Mortgage is now helping you put your monthly rent payments towards home ownership. It's called Rent Rewards, and for the first time, you can save up to $5,000 off the cost of your home just by paying rent. Only at Rocket Mortgage. If this sounds like something that could make a difference in your life, call 804 Rocket or visit Rocket.com learn more about rent rewards that's 804 Rocket or.

[Jason McIntyre]

Rocket.com Rocket Mortgage LLC equal housing lender licensed in all 50 states NMLS consumeraccess.org.

[Alex Curry]

3030 I'm Colin Coward from the Herd for many, the American dream means starting your own business and working for yourself. If you're a small business owner, launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you also want to check out season three of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In every episode, hosts Austin Henkwitz and Jenice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss. From tracking money in and out to cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business small business success stories on the Iheart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rick Bucher]

Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts.

[Jason McIntyre]

A new way to keep your teen.

[Rick Bucher]

Safer as they grow. Like making sure they always have their seatbelt on.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right, sweetie pie, buckle up. Good job. Or ring the bell on their bike. Okay kid, give it a try. Nice. Or remember their elbow pads.

[Rick Bucher]

Knees too.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay? Yep, there you go.

[Rick Bucher]

New Instagram teen accounts.

[Jason McIntyre]

Automatic protections for who can contact your teen and the content they can see. Let's start with the tears because the tears were flowing and then the points were last night in Dallas for Luca Doncic. It's my man. You know, this is real. Honestly guys, I'm not like a starstruck individual, but I did run into Steph Curry a couple years ago. I was like, steph, I gotta get a photo. You know, there's only a handful of athletes I do that for and Luka Doncic is right there at the top. I am so in awe of this guy. To watch him crying pre game back in Dallas last night sitting on the bench and then he comes in and just starts dropping threes. Folks, it was a phenomenal event last night in Dallas. You don't see this often and I'm so happy for Luka Doncic. You guys know I'm a Laker fan, obviously, but watching him watch that tribute video. And P.S. there was a lot of skinny Luka in that tribute video. He has put on some weight. No doubt about it. We'll get to Nico Harrison and why he traded him shortly. But then Luca just comes out. Look at him cooking. Step back 3ad. How you like that? It was a master class from Luca. 45 points. His, I guess you'd say his best game as a Laker. It's only game 27, folks. That's like one third of a regular season with the Lakers. Luka was cooking all night. Lakers get the win. And I believe last night's game was pretty much a blueprint for what we'll see in the playoffs. Luka early set the tone. He's fresh. Nobody can guard him. I'm sorry. Even though he's heavier than he used to be, Nobody can guard Luka Doncic. And then, you know, Luka gets his rest. LeBron comes in late as the closer. 14 for LeBron in the fourth. Lakers inch closer to that coveted third seed. And if you look at what Luca did in the first half, he had 31 points. The Mav starters at 35. Luca was phenomenal. And after the game, here's Luca talking about the tribute video and his return to Dallas. So many emotions when I was watching that video, I was like, there's no way I'm playing this game. But, you know, all my teammates have my back. They were really supporting me. So I really appreciate that, folks. It was an event like we haven't seen before in sports, okay? Most of these guys who leave their franchises do it willingly, voluntarily. I want out. LeBron departs Cleveland from Miami. I'm taking my talents to South Beach. Well, when he went back to Cleveland, the vibe was hostile. The environment was tense. It was like, oh, this could get ugly. Let's not anybody do anything stupid. And it was just like, not a great atmosphere, okay? And then Kevin Durant, right, starts his career in Seattle, and then Oklahoma City, and then he decides, I'm out. I don't want to be here anymore. And it was a smart move by LeBron to go to Miami. We agree. It was a smart move by Kevin Durant to leave OKC for Golden State. Many of you disagree. I think that was a genius move by Kevin Durant. I totally agree with it. I've defended it for years. But when KD went back to Oklahoma City, he was met with venom, bile, anger, all the cupcake nonsense started by his frenemy Russell Westbrook. Folks, this is something we haven't seen before. Luka was met with an applause the second he walked into the arena. You saw Lakers Luka jerseys on Mavs fans. It was a crazy setting. And again, I mean, I can't even think of anything across any sport where we've seen this before. And for Luca to thrive in that environment after crying. I will say I loved that. J.J. redick had them give the take foul late in the game with about 90 seconds left, just so they could sub out Luca. And then it was a round of applause, right? Every whole arena standing ovation for Luca. He gets to the bench and LeBron is leading the Luca. Luca like Austin Reeves, LeBron, the whole bench, they're fired up, standing up and the arena's backing Luca. This is Dallas. It was just a crush seed. We haven't seen that before. I don't know that we'll see one of those again. And we'll get to why shortly. But I want to hear, I want you to hear JJ Redick talk about everything that encompassed Luca going home. This is great. The, the moment with the tribute video and him sitting by himself and getting to actually live that and live in the moment and allowing himself to be vulnerable and his teammates supporting. Some of his teammates got emotional, some of the coaches got emotional. It was a beautiful moment. Thought the video was great, but I, I think just his ability to then go perform, lights turn on. He's, you know, he's teary eyed still as we walk out on the court for the tip ball, to have the emotional resolve to then go put on that kind of performance, it's, it's superhuman. That's a great way. JJ Redick is so good, by the way, as a Lakers coach. Love him. And I saw an interesting stat from espn. Last night was the first time Dirk Nowitzki attended a Dallas home game since the trade. Okay. He went to Luca's first game with the Lakers. Okay. He's now this is his first game at a Dallas, at the arena since they dealt Luca. What does that tell you? And this is the other angle I want to get to. I talked earlier this week about I'm a risk taker by nature, whether it's moving my family across the country, quitting my job to start a website. You know, obviously I like gambling. I enjoy going to Vegas. I, I don't know what word I would use to describe my sports gambling habits. I, I like prolific. But you know, not every season is Winning. I'm a risk taker and I think a lot of people in this industry are. You kind of got to. You're putting yourself out there. I'm on national TV talking about how I love Steph Curry and Luka Doncic. Like, this isn't normal behavior. Nor is what Nico Harrison did in Dallas, trading Luka Doncic. Now, we drilled down on this in the morning meeting, trying to figure out like a, can they rebound from this and be like, where do you go from here if you're Nico Harrison? And I started thinking about it. I was going to have my morning donut, but it didn't show up in the dressing room this morning. I don't know, I guess they forgot it. Know I've been needing some sugar energy to get fired up for the show. Cowherds on magnesium. I've been using donuts. And I just wonder if Nico Harrison has such a bad spot right now for himself. There were Fire Nico chants throughout the arena last night. It's like, luca, Luca, we love you, Nico Harrison. Fire Nico. And. And then they have the video of him in the tunnel, just standing there stone faced, like, oh, my gosh, what am I going to do to dig out of this hole? I don't know that they can get out of it and stop with the, hey, Kyrie's going to come back from the acl maybe by the All Star break next year. It's going to be fine, folks. They've got Kyrie and AD as their. As they're like their nucleus. Those are two guys who are often injured. They've played together for 25 minutes. That's it on the court since the trade. And I started to have this moment of clarity and I'm like, wait a minute, wait a minute. Nico Harrison has been a big swing guy. He took a big swing for Kyrie and it worked when he was opposite Luka Doncic. Then the next year, he goes out and gets PJ Washington and. And Daniel Gafford, and everybody's like, I don't know about those guys. They haven't done anything. Those swings worked. Dallas got to the finals, then he took a swing he didn't need to, shipping Luca to the Lakers. Lakers fans, by the way, haven't been this excited about a star coming to town since Pau Gasol was gifted to them. Didn't we get the Statue of Liberty from, like, Paris or something? Gosh, I probably butchered that. But it felt like that's what their teams are just handing the Lakers stars. Here's Pau Gasol. Here's Luka Doncic. And I don't know if Nico has any way out of this. If this morning, I'm sure he's looking at some of the videos. I'm sure he could say I'm not paying attention. There's a video of Mark Cuban when the fire Nico chants are happening. Fans near Mark Cuban have a camera on him. And Mark Cuban's just like, what if. What. What have I. What. What has happened since I left this organization as the owner? I mean, he looked like a emperor of Rome who had, like, stepped down, and now Rome's got this new emperor, and it's just not going good at all. I mean, they were in the finals less than a year ago. And I keep coming back to this. When you are a big swing guy by nature, and now your last swing is starting to be compared to the Babe Ruth trade, which is, you know, over the last hundred years and change in sports, considered the worst trade ever. Okay. I think the Red Sox were cursed for, like, a hundred years. You have to sort of wonder, how does he get out of this? And it's not going to just be, oh, Kyrie's coming back. And I started to look at the salary cap and the draft picks. Dallas does have three draft picks in the first round this year. They're obviously not going to be great picks. But you start to wonder who was Kyrie's guy who followed him to Brooklyn? Kevin Durant. And I wonder if Mr. Big Swing, Nico Harrison. Hey, man, we got to do something. Do you make a move in this off season for Kevin Durant? Now, you could be compounding your mistake. You know, us investors, we love compound interest. Nico Harrison as the gambler who's down big and decides, hey, hey, can I get the. The car. My. The title to my car. Let me toss that in there. Here's my watch. And he's just trying desperately to dig out of a hole. I wonder if he makes a big swing here and goes after, say, a Kevin Durant. Hey, kd, you just want a hoop. We got Kyrie, we got ad. Can. Can you come on down? We'll give up everything not bolted down. And all the draft picks give us Kevin Durant. They. They need to do something, because at this point, this has to be a franchise low for the Mavs since, you know, the Roy Tarpley days back in the 80s, that was a mess. I won't even get into it, but I. I've. I've always been a Luka Doncic fan. And to see him cry on the bench because they traded him. It's very clear, people, he did not want to go. I'm not saying he didn't want to go to the Lakers, but he loved it in Dallas. He was Mr. Dallas. There's videos of him with the cowboy hat on. Howdy, partner. Like, he had embraced his new city. They loved him. And then one guy or the owner, there's some debate as to who was driving force, but it was pretty clear, like, hey, let's get rid of Luca. And I, and I get it. On some level, he does does look heavier than he did in his first three years when he was cooking everybody in the league. But, folks, historically, this is going to go down as one of the biggest screw ups in NBA history. I mean, you could deny it all you want. If Luca's able to stay healthy, he's on track to be a top 10 player all time. That's just a fact. If you look at the numbers, he is on track to be a top 10 player all time now, obviously. Will the titles come with him? We'll see. I think they're going to the finals this year. I think the lakers with Luca, LeBron, Austin, Reeves, they're looking at the number three seed. And I'm sure you guys saw what else happened around the league last night. Golden State warriors lose at the buzzer. And now in the play in, it's almost like the stars are aligning for Luka and the Lakers. So, Alex, you cried last night as Luca.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm an emotional person. And you, when you followed that whole trade situation and you saw how heartbroken Luca was and shocked Luca was with the trade situation, you could tell how much it meant to him. And when you see like a big guy, an athlete who is all the media around him, allow himself to get that emotional. How do you not get emotional? And it's just it again, like you were just talking about. It's not Nico, it's the ownership. I have like a way more conspiracy theory like idea to this whole trade situation. Like, it's not like you don't just. It's not his weight. It's not like his play. He's one of the greatest, like, futures and players right now in the NBA. Like, I think it's ownership and they own casinos and they want to build a casino complex. And you're not going to be able to do that. Dallas isn't letting them do it right now. It's not working out. So you can't like, threaten to move the team or try to get what you Want if you have a championship team and one of the best players in the NBA on your team, like, follow the money. Like, that's where my eye is here. Like it's. They're not trying to win. Like it was trying to do the opposite situation. But just to go off the Luca situation, there was a really cool stat I saw last night. And he's only the second player with a 45 point game four and against the same team in the NBA season since Wilt. Wilt Chamberlain.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Only other. Only other player to do that.

[Jason McIntyre]

The staff just notified me. We have sound of the fire Nico chants and I get fired up for Chance. Guys. I don't mind leading a chant on the sideline for my daughter's volleyball team. Here's the fire Nick. Fire Nico Chance from last night.

[Colin Cowherd]

Dude, that is insane.

[Jason McIntyre]

Do you know how awkward that is when everyone around you knows, oh, man, I'm standing next to the dude. It's not his. 25,000 people are yelling fired.

[Colin Cowherd]

Taking the blame. He was the one who had to make the call and make the move. But there's some debate over that comes from ownership. You heard Mark Cuban, like, when he was asked about it years ago, he's like, you'll find me getting a divorce from my wife before I trade Luke. I don't like it.

[Jason McIntyre]

I mean, I get it.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's why it's like an ownership this.

[Jason McIntyre]

Morning who think the owner was behind it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Jason McIntyre]

Know that the owner's smart enough. He's just a money guy, Nico.

[Colin Cowherd]

Which is Loves.

[Jason McIntyre]

Kyrie loves. AD has known them for years. I don't.

[Colin Cowherd]

I don't say he's a money guy. They own casinos. They are one of the richest owners.

[Jason McIntyre]

Well, they're going to be down. Figures, Alex. Based on according to an ESPN story, their merch is down. That's the ticket sales are down.

[Colin Cowherd]

They want a casino complex. That sponsor thing that they want.

[Jason McIntyre]

The sponsors are the matter.

[Colin Cowherd]

Like, that's like chump change. Chump change forum.

[Jason McIntyre]

Gosh, this is bad.

[Colin Cowherd]

They want to move locations.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. They want to come up next year on the Herd. Did one NFL superstar give us a sign yesterday? He could be on the move. Not good news for an AFC team. That's next. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Back here on the Herd, joined by the great Rick Bucher, Fox Sports NBA analyst. He's been covering the league for. Since Michael Jordan was a factor. That's how long it's been, Rick. I've never seen a night.

[Rick Bucher]

It's always good to start the show with shade.

[Jason McIntyre]

I gotta throw some shade up. Mj. Not you, of course. I've never seen a night like that before. Luca crying that drops 45. They want to fire the GM. I mean, part of me wants to ask, do you have Nico's number? Can we call him up?

[Rick Bucher]

I do.

[Jason McIntyre]

He's such a coward. He doesn't want to meet the media. He talked to him once and now he's like just standing down.

[Rick Bucher]

I'm not going to pile on Nico 1 because ownership didn't want to pay the 345 million and he had to be the guy that did the dirty work. And, you know, I'm not saying that he didn't on some level agree with the move, but. And it remains to be seen, you know, as dramatic as last night was, as impactful as it was, I will say this, it was, it will go down in history as one of the most heart tugging moments in sports history. Because the trembling lip and the, I mean, that was it. The close up and the trembling lip and the tears made you realize how much Luca loved being a Dallas Maverick. And to have a great player like that, who's that tied to a franchise, that's. That's what people will not forget. And that's what made it so powerful. I don't even know that he had to have a great game, but the fact that he then had 45 and did all the Luca magic things that he does, that's. That's what. Just that, that buried it for you.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. By the way, how was Anthony Davis last night for the Mavs, huh? How's that trade working out for Dallas?

[Rick Bucher]

Why, why do you say that with such gleam?

[Jason McIntyre]

I like AD but you know, he, him and Klay Thompson have to be like, what do we do to deserve this?

[Rick Bucher]

No, well, yeah, well, you, you need Kyrie Irving to play the role. I mean, essentially it's the warriors without Steph Curry. And then you'd be looking at, you know, Jimmy Butler going, what did I do to deserve this? This isn't what I signed up for. So I think that's, that's part of it. And look, the change between Luka and Anthony Davis, the thing that always bothered me and still bothers me is that we're rewriting this now with, with him and the Lakers, that he, you know, he just never became the player that LeBron needed him to be. For LeBron to go win another championship that's out there. That's being said. Like saying that that's the suggestion is. Is that he was holding LeBron back offensively. And now you see what. What LeBron is still capable of doing, right? Well, of course, because Luka is a playmaker. Anthony Davis, you know, this. This whole. We're going to play through AD and all that, he's. LeBron's going to take a step back, and AD is going to take a step forward. That. Offensively, that was never going to work. You were asking AD to be something that he's never been. He is a defensive backbone, and he's a great stretch four. He can do a great offensive rebounder, but don't ask him to, like, orchestrate your offense, because he's never done that.

[Jason McIntyre]

It's weird. I don't know who said it. It might have been Broussard. Yeah, but like, this. People were saying that Kyrie was the best wingman ever for LeBron or most skilled player, maybe. And I'm just like, LeBron's never been with a playmaker like this. Kyrie and Wade were scorers.

[Rick Bucher]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

You know, Luka basically just carried the first half. Luka do everything. And what happens late, LeBron 14 points in the fourth because he looks fresh as a daisy, and he can attack the rim and get every rebound.

[Rick Bucher]

Yeah. And he's not. I mean, he's playing off the ball. He's playing off of all the attention that Luka is creating. He gets to be the number two now and take advantage of that. And you got LeBron James, even at 40, as your number two, you're in pretty good shape. I mean, look, he's been around forever. He's just. He's really smart. I, I will say this. I. He deserves tremendous credit. I never. I, I didn't know if LeBron could play off the ball as well as he has, but his ability to move off the ball, his ability. Ability to catch and shoot, it's. It's been very impressive.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. You know, Luka, Doncic has almost become a polarizing figure. The way he yells at refs. He was ejected from the OKC game, and I kind of.

[Rick Bucher]

Did you see him last night?

[Jason McIntyre]

They rescinded the tech last night, by the way. Did you see that right before the game? I know that second technical.

[Rick Bucher]

Did you see him during the game last night? He did not say a peep.

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh, yes.

[Rick Bucher]

Like, when he did approach the referees, it was.

[Jason McIntyre]

He was almost like whispering, timid, like.

[Rick Bucher]

It was. Yeah, that. Like, I. This is. This is the Thing. Look, there's a lot of, a lot of the reasons that the Dallas Mavericks decided we didn't want to, we don't want to invest in him in the, in the, for the long term. We're legitimate chronic injuries, never in shape, like gains weight in the off season, like all of those things. And, and I, and I understand that you go to the finals against Boston and you're harping on the referees and you're not being able to defend at a high level and you're conditioning, whether that was because of injury or whatever, all of those cost you a championship. And you come back and you're not demonstrably a different player. You're doing all the same things. You're not in shape, you get injured again, you're still harping on the referees. So if you lose a championship because of those things and you don't change, it's like, well, is he ever going to change? But here's the thing. Now that he's had this, oh, I'm expendable or I, I don't rule the roost. Like all of this may inspire him to change, but I don't know if it ever would have happened if he had stayed in a Dallas Maverick uniform.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's fair to. I totally get that.

[Rick Bucher]

But Rick, I am nothing.

[Jason McIntyre]

All those negatives. I am nothing but all that negative stuff you just said. Yeah, and he still took them to the finals last year. So it's like, oh, he's overweight and he's okay. He still got them to the finals.

[Rick Bucher]

But they're not paying him for what he did. They're paying him the 345 million for what he's going to do over the next five years. And that's why as look the visuals last night, I'm almost ready to say, no matter what happens, it's a bad trade because of what we saw last night. But that said, the true measure of whether, of just how bad this trade was is going to be determined over the next five years. Not last night.

[Jason McIntyre]

Well, it's always a great selling point. Hey, give us five years. Hey, you know these tariffs that we're going to implement, it's a long term play. Just be patient, trust. The process has been going for what, a decade now? This stuff, you can't sell that to NBA fans. Hey, no, you can't.

[Rick Bucher]

No, you can't.

[Jason McIntyre]

No, I want answers now. I want to get back to the championship now.

[Rick Bucher]

I get that. I get well, and they were hoping that Kyrie, a healthy Kyrie and Ad and all the other pieces, they'd be able to. They'd be able to get that done. Look, I'm not. I'm not defending it. I'm just explaining the logic behind it. And you can't forecast injuries. And I know what you're going to say. Well, with Kyrie and A.D. you can.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Rick Bucher]

Okay, so.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay, so let's sell me. If you're with the Mavericks front office, you know, your boys with Nico and. And then this governor clown. Go ahead, sell me. I'm a fan. Hey, patience. Give me a. Give us a few years. Go ahead. Let me. Let me hear it. Let's hear this. I. I just don't think anything is going to placate. No, you can't.

[Rick Bucher]

You're right. You're right, you're right. But again, it's. It's. I'm not trying to. The. The. The deed is done.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Rick Bucher]

I can't sell you on anything at this point. I would just. I'd point to a Joel Embiid. I'd point to a Zion Williamson. I would say, look, there are teams that had players not as good as Luca, but what does it matter if the guy's injured and not available and they load up on him? And then now where are you stuck? You're stuck in Purgatory. Okay, so that's.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's Giant Embiid. You're right. Out of shape. Constantly. Never took a team to the finals. Luca's games played 70, 66. 65, 66. That's not like chop liver. That would still qualify him for all NBA. He's not missing a full season. I mean, Zion is a mess. I'm sure you saw the latest story.

[Rick Bucher]

Look, I'm not making a straight line comparison again to what they've done, as opposed to what you're looking at going in the future. Lukas, 25, 26 years old. So there's two ways to look at that. One, he's 25 and 26 years old, and he's had the same calf injury three times within a year.

[Jason McIntyre]

Not great.

[Rick Bucher]

And missed. And missed games. Right. The flip side is he's 25, 26 years old. You know what? He's going to mature. He's going to, like. He's going to get his act together. And you don't want to miss out when he gets his act together.

[Jason McIntyre]

When did you get your act together? Because I know I didn't until I was, like, mid-30s. It took me a little while. Right.

[Rick Bucher]

I'm right there with you. Late 20s, early 30s. But the shelf life. We, you know, we've got a little more Runway than an NBA player.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right, so you were on Monday, but we did not cover it. Mike Malone, fired in this NBA season has been crazy. Between the Luca trade, firing the Memphis coach and now firing the Nuggets coach, it sounds like the GM and the coach hated each other. I'm reading Cold War.

[Rick Bucher]

Oh, yeah. No, there's no question. The problem that Michael Malone had was as. As a GM texted me the. The morning it happened, you go, I said, like, what's going on? Taylor Jenkins and now Mike Malone, he goes, when you don't get along with people and you're losing, you put yourself in harm's way. And Mike Malone, in spite of being there for 10 years, never really cultivated any. Nobody had his back. He didn't cultivate relationships. So he and Calvin Booth, completely at odds from almost the start. And that worked against Mike because the guys that were. That were Mike advocates in the locker room, Bruce Brown, I'm told, was a Mike Malone guy. KCP was a Mike Malone guy. Like, all those guys got moved along. And what happens is your ratio changes. You may have some guys in there that aren't feeling him, but as long as you have enough of them that are. That are backing the coach, then you can kind of work through that. But when it becomes. The ratio becomes so unbalanced. Now it's now. Now you got a quorum in there that are. That are chirping about the coach. That's. And then you start losing. Yeah, that's a problem.

[Jason McIntyre]

Some big words here. Quorum, educating the audience. So, Nuggets last night, first game without Malone.

[Rick Bucher]

I was a writer before I started.

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh, that's right. I forgot. You're a big time writer. Russell Westbrook, fewest minutes he's played in months.

[Rick Bucher]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

And Jalen Pickett started and played pretty damn good. Like, seven people listening to the show know who Jalen Pickett is. It seems like the old versus young guys was a bit of an issue there. Malone doesn't trust the young guys like the veterans, which I guess, you know.

[Rick Bucher]

Yeah. No, no, no. I mean, look, Mike's an old school coach.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Rick Bucher]

And you have a team that's in transition, and it works with a guy like Jokic. You know, for those people out there that are like, well, they wouldn't have fired. They wouldn't have fired Mike without, you know, Jokic his approval. And as Jokic said, they came to him and told him what they were going to do. They didn't ask Him. Right. Because Jokic grew up in Serbia. Like over there, Coach is king. It's not player empowerment over there. The organization, the coach, they run the show. And you are fortunate that you're a player. And so that's his mindset here. He wasn't about to walk into Josh Kroenke's office and say, hey, it's either me or him. That's just not in the DNA of any European player.

[Jason McIntyre]

So we got about a minute left. Warriors lose at the buzzer last night. Listen, last week not just lost, lost.

[Rick Bucher]

To a former Warrior that they moved out in order to bring Katie in.

[Jason McIntyre]

So beat Memphis last week, Curry goes off, beat the Lakers, beat the Nuggets and everybody's champion in Golden State as the team all of a sudden now they lose to the Rockets and the Spurs. Do we know if this team's dangerous, Rick?

[Rick Bucher]

Well, they have to have all hands on deck and 37 year old Steph Curry being as essential as he is is a little troubling. They don't have a margin for error. But I would also say this for everybody out there that is taking all these games, whether it's the Lakers in OKC or it's the warriors losing to the spurs or whatever, let's not lose sight of what they've done over the course of the year for the last few games of the regular season.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's a great point. Rick Bucher, Fox Sports NBA Analyst Always fun stuff, always got good info. We make a good quorum here, Cor. I feel like I'm smarter. Just Rick Bucher sits on the sofa generally.

[Rick Bucher]

J you, you are.

[Colin Cowherd]

When I come on end it on a good note.

[Rick Bucher]

Yep.

[Jason McIntyre]

Coming up next, which NBA players are under the most pressure this postseason? I'll tell you that next, be sure.

[Alex Curry]

To catch live editions of the Herd.

[Jason McIntyre]

Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Let me start this hour with the five players under the most pressure in these upcoming NBA playoffs. Okay, now this list, it was a difficult one to make because I had some guys in here in the staffs like whoa, no way, no way. JMac and well, let's start we'll countdown. We'll go five to one. Let's start at number five. I think Jimmy Butler is under a fair amount of pressure in these playoffs. Forces his way out of Miami where he took the heat to the finals twice. Okay. Initially didn't want to go to Golden State. Then they ponied up big money and he's like, all right, I'll check it out. Initially they're awesome and Butler's kind of finding his footing. Remember, this is a locker room where he's usually an alpha and they already have one in Draymond Green. So how does Butler fit in? He has to step up when Curry is held in check. They don't have a number two guys. Podzemski ain't hitting eight threes ever again in a game like he did against the Lakers. I think Jimmy Butler, who you guys know, I'm a big fan of Butler. He's under a lot of pressure in these NBA playoffs. Number four, Ja Morant. Boy, just when you think Ja Morant has cleaned up his act. Okay, so last week he points at the warriors bench with a gun thing toward Buddy heel. And then they're told him don't do it. He does it again. And then he pretends to lobber grenade. After they told him, please don't do that anymore. It's like, bro, what, what are you doing? John Morant got them into the playoffs several years, then he's been hurt, then he's got the off court issues. Somebody pitched me the idea that John Morant wants out of Memphis and he's starting to like make noise. I was he involved in getting their coach fired recently? I don't know. I don't know what's happening in Memphis, but maybe John Morant's not long for that city. I think he's under a lot of pressure to at least win a series with the Grizzlies. Next up, and this is a divisive topic, Jayson Tatum at number three. Okay. Cowherd would have him number one. Obviously you know that I'm a Tatum guy. I know his trainer a little bit. I'm a big Tatum fan. Before I get to the negatives, I'm going to remind everybody he's going to finish fourth in MVP vote voted. He's going to be first team all NBA. And in the playoffs last year he led them in the playoffs in points, rebounds and assists. And in the Finals he led them in points, rebounds and assists. So why is he under pressure? Jay? Well, there is the situation that happened in the Olympics last year where Jason Tatum, the all NBA guy who's a perennial top five MVP candidate, kind of got benched. And then in the finals he didn't win finals mvp. And if you want to draw a parallel, Steph Curry, when they won their first title, did not win the mvp. It went to Andre Iguodala for his defense on Lebron which is a little suspicious because Curry still had a pretty damn good series. So then they lose the next year, then Curry gets kd. KD is the finals mvp. And then you have this whole like, is Steph Curry really the best player? Like, I didn't love that topic. Then he won his first Finals MVP and everybody backed off. He's a top 10 player all time. Listen, Tatum is still a young guy. He's the best player on that team. No disrespect to jb, but there is some pressure for him to act and show that he is an elite top five guy in this league, which I think he is. Next up. Oh, Carl Anthony Towns, my main man. You guys know I'm a big Knicks fan. They're not gonna run Brunson out of town if the Knicks lose to the Celtics in the second round. Bridges ain't going anywhere. They love OG Anunoby. There will be a fall guy if the Knicks fall apart. Now if they get swept, it could just be Thibodeau. But I have to worry about Carl Anthony Towns, who lands in New York. Couldn't defend. This chair that I'm looking at here in the studio. Can score a lot, but when you don't defend. He was benched in the playoffs last year by the Timberwolves because he can't guard anybody. So Carl Anthony Town's number two and obviously at number one. Shay Gilgis Alexander. He's gonna win the mvp. I don't think he should. He's a great player. We know that. He gets to the line. He's Mr. Free Throw Merchant. But folks, you can't win the MVP. You can't talk all the trash and dance around like OKC's been doing all season. You win 65 plus games and then you shrink in the playoffs. We'll see what the path looks. Looks like, but I'm just saying it now. You're not blaming J Dub. If they don't deliver, you're not blaming Chet Holmgren. This is going to be on the mvp. And historically, guys who win the MVP don't deliver in the postseason. Sga. Without a doubt. Under the most pressure of any player in the upcoming NBA playoffs. By the way, Trey Young just missed the list for me in Mississippi.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yazu clay keeps secrets.

[Jason McIntyre]

7,000 bodies out there or more.

[Alex Curry]

A forgotten asylum cemetery.

[Jason McIntyre]

It was my family's mystery.

[Alex Curry]

Shame, guilt, propriety. Something keeps it all buried deep.

[Jason McIntyre]

Until it's not. I'm Larison Campbell and this is under Yazoo Clay. Listen, on the Iheartradio App, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. What's up? I'm Laura, host of the podcast Courtside with Laura Carrenti, a masterclass case study of the business of women's sports. I'll be chatting with leaders like tennis icon Alana Kloss.

[Rick Bucher]

I don't do what I do only for women.

[Jason McIntyre]

I do it for everyone.

[Colin Cowherd]

And I want the whole market and.

[Jason McIntyre]

Innovators like Jenny Nguyen. I would say 50% of the people that come visit the Sports Bra aren't sports fans.

[Colin Cowherd]

They come to be in community.

[Jason McIntyre]

They come to be part of this culture. Courtside with Laura quarenti is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

[Colin Cowherd]

Listen to Courtside with Laura Carrenty on.

[Jason McIntyre]

The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.

[Colin Cowherd]

You get your podcasts.

[Jason McIntyre]

Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

[Alex Curry]

Are your money skills total trash? Well, trust me, you are not alone.

[Rick Bucher]

Personal finance ignorance is as American as apple pie.

[Alex Curry]

But you can improve.

[Jason McIntyre]

I think, Matt, if your emergency fund.

[Rick Bucher]

Was invested, especially given the volatility we're experiencing right now.

[Jason McIntyre]

Ouchies.

[Alex Curry]

Investing it is ultimately a necessity, but you gotta keep that emergency fund accessible. It needs to be cash parked in your savings.

[Jason McIntyre]

It's time to learn, and how to money is here to bring the knowledge. Listen to how to Money on the.

[Alex Curry]

Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jason McIntyre]

We live in a divided country, and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.