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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Acquired card has no cash access and expires in six months. You know buying a home used to be a huge headache. You had to go to different places for listings, pre approval financing. But now Rocket is putting everything you need in one place. Rocket.com a single seamless home ownership platform to help you find, buy, sell, finance, even refinance your home. Everything you need, all under one roof. Every home at one address. Rocket.com the new home for all things home ownership. Rocket Own the dream.
- [01:08]
Jason McIntyre
It's the last game of the season.
- [01:10]
Colin Cowherd
And with Amex you can save time.
- [01:11]
Jason McIntyre
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- [01:14]
Colin Cowherd
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- [02:31]
Jason McIntyre
Now let's get this party started.
- [02:33]
Colin Cowherd
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right, ready to go. This show's host isn't retiring. It's gonna be a hundred cat season, baby. Live in Los Angeles, the Herd. Nick Wright's around the corner. I got. I slept like crap last night and I took magnes. I can't figure it out. But you know, a lot of things going on out there. A lot of things. J. Mac. I got a lot of things weighing on me.
- [02:59]
Jason McIntyre
You know, I keep lobbying for two things here. A ping pong table on set. And number two is our commercial breaks to be videotaped and streamed. That conversation we just had was awesome.
- [03:08]
Colin Cowherd
There's no winner in that.
- [03:10]
Jason McIntyre
What do you mean? Tell them about Jack Sickman. I think the audience loves that stuff.
- [03:15]
Colin Cowherd
When you talk about 70s, I love. I loved. So I watched the Bill Simmons stuff last night. I watched episode three. It was great. And I was. I watched episode four and there was a comment by one of the guys talking about how bad the NBA was before Magic and Bird showed up. And it just, it pierced my heart. He said it was so true. He said, I mean, does anybody even remember that the Washington Bullets and the Sonics played in back to back finals? And I'm like, yeah, that's when I fell in love with the league. I can name both starting. I can name the whole teams. I can name the entire roster. And it's like. But that's where the NBA was. Those games were televised like after the nightly 11 o'clock. I think they were delayed.
- [04:00]
Jason McIntyre
Tape delay. Yeah, yeah.
- [04:01]
Colin Cowherd
And it's like. And that's what I talked about with the NBA. It's hard. Tanking is unavoidable because if you land Larry Bird or Cooper flag, you look at what the Bulls have done in the last week. Scoring. You put Cooper flag on this team and one other veteran that can score. That's a playoff team in the East. Hell yeah, it's a playoff team. So I don't think you can avoid that. So I, I was thinking about this because Cam Ward is going to go number one in the draft and apparently his pro day was great. And he has one big advantage over last year's number one pick, Caleb Williams, is that he has an offensive coach who everybody in the building likes and respects. Not a defensive coach on the hot seat. And a GM in Chicago also on the hot seat. Now, Cam Ward may not be walking into a mansion, but it's not a building that's on fire. Right? Like Tennessee. I looked at their schedule this morning. You get the Jags twice, the Colts twice. Raiders, Cleveland, Saints, New England, Arizona. A lot of W's there, a lot of games at home. Saints, Patriots, Jags, Colts. I mean, some of those road games, winnable. Cleveland, Raiders, Jags, those are winnable games. Bears played in a better division, but again, it's an offensive Coach. The other thing that jumps out to me is that Brian Callahan and J. Mac loves him. Smart offensive coach. He had palpable disdain for Will Levis. We have, we have pieces of video during a Jets game when, I mean, Callahan is screaming at him. I mean, visceral. And he's not subtle about it. He didn't like him. I mean, after the jets game, here's what the coach said at the podium.
- [05:50]
Nick Wright
I think the camera caught it pretty.
- [05:51]
Colin Cowherd
Clear if I had to guess. So, yeah, I was upset.
- [05:55]
Nick Wright
It was dumb.
- [05:56]
Colin Cowherd
It was the same exact thing he did last week. And he cost us points in the red zone. And that is what it is.
- [06:02]
Nick Wright
He's a grown up and he knows better.
- [06:03]
Colin Cowherd
And so, you know, I was really irritated that he cost us three points in a game that we probably needed it. I've never heard a coach hammer a young quarterback like that ever. At a podium. Privately, maybe. Publicly, no. Here was Callahan later in the season after benching Will Levis in a Bengals game. The easiest way to say it is that there's a, you know, there's a standard that of play and there's been multiple guys on our team that we've sat down for percentage. Those are all things that are just a part of NFL life and a part of performance and trying to win football games.
- [06:41]
Nick Wright
And you just have to make sure.
- [06:43]
Colin Cowherd
That when you're making decisions and you're coaching that it's the same across the board for all positions. And quarterback positioning is a part of that. Yeah, yeah. He didn't like him. Like, so you're going to a weak division. You have an offensive coach for Cam Ward and I guarantee you the coach is going to like the quarterback. Like I thought last year, there were multiple times and we said it on the air, Callan didn't like Will Levis. Will Levis comes in, gun show, cocky, he didn't like him. It's one thing to be critical, but to say stuff publicly at a podium, you don't like him. And you could say, well, yeah, it was just emotion of the game. Now you talk 15 minutes after a game, that emotion's gone. You've got that emotion by the time you hit the locker room. So I think Cam Ward's going to be a good player. Is he a great prospect? I don't know. I think he's a good one. And I think Shador. 74% completion percentage with the worst O line in college football. No run game. I do not get the Shador Sanders criticism. I don't get it. 74% completion, running for his life, trailing, has to throw and one elite receiver. If he gets competent protection, Shedeur is going to be hit in the NFL with that. Nick Wright CO HOST first things first. You know I was watching it's interesting I was watching the Bill Simmons Celtic City last night and we were in this. I generally wouldn't lead with this but it makes me think it was really good. And I said every league has an unavoidable problem. Baseball has no urgency. Most of us didn't play hockey. NFL's got violence and people get seriously hurt. And the NBA's is the Celtics were terrible. They got Larry Bird, they were great. Like in the NBA one guy now in the NFL that's true too. But you don't see Mahomes by the time he's 14 in basketball, Luka Wemby, LeBron they're 14 years old. You're like yep, you can plan for it. I do think the NBA's trying trying to manipulate load management down and most of the young players Tatum SGA they like to play. I don't think you can avoid tanking. I think it's the league's unavoidable problem. What say you?
- [08:49]
Nick Wright
So that's interesting. I the problem with fixing tanking is every realistic fix has a butterfly effect that could cause an equal or greater problem. So some people have argued, you know what you should do instead of having a lottery? Have a March Madness style single elimination tournament of the non playoff teams and the winner of that gets the number one pick. But the problem with which sounds great on its face like oh that would be fun. It would be more inventory. What the problem with that is the moment that happens there would be an actual playoff level team that's like you know what we should do? Miss the playoffs entirely so we can win this tournament and get Cooper flag. So that won't work. They have flattened the odds to prevent teams from wanting to have the single worst record. What that ended up creating was teams were like well if the number one worst record is not as valuable as it once was, that by default makes having the sixth or the seventh worst record more valuable than it was previously. So there is not a pure clean fix except for severely financially penalizing ownership. Like that would be the fix. The fix would be the way that they can, you know that they enforce other rules which is real financial penalties for teams the league hits. Who did they hit recently? Utah I think with 100 they hit somebody with $100,000 fine and I'm sure the Jazz were Like have you seen, with respect, the Sixers the last three weeks? Where's their fine. Like have you seen these other teams? And so. No, I don't, I don't. And here's the other thing. I don't actually think fans have a huge problem when you're talking about issues with the NBA. I don't think tanking is high on the fans. Listen, I think good teams whose good players rest. Load, load management. I think that is a far greater fan concern than the bad teams throwing games at the end of the year. So I, I don't know why your producers. I'm sorry, I don't know why your producers just showed LeBron James, the man who's played more minutes and games than anyone in NBA history, when I said load management, he's the face of anti load management. But go ahead. Bad, bad job by the bad guys.
- [11:19]
Colin Cowherd
How about this one? I'm going to throw another one at you. So Brawny last night scored 39 points against the El Paso. El Paso Donuts or whatever they're called. Whatever. Who cares?
- [11:29]
Nick Wright
You can. Don't do that, okay? Don't do that, Colin. Anyway, don't do that.
- [11:33]
Colin Cowherd
Okay? Against the El Segundo Knights. I don't know who they played against.
- [11:38]
Nick Wright
The team on his schedule.
- [11:40]
Colin Cowherd
Okay.
- [11:40]
Nick Wright
With equivalent players.
- [11:42]
Colin Cowherd
Okay. So my take is because of his, the situation he had in college with kind of a life threatening situation is he's going to be stopped. Yeah, his art stop. So what he's going to be is a late bloomer, semi late bloomer. He's got it like write off 18 months of his development. It may be starting right about now. So I saw that last night and I thought, okay, I want to say something nice about it. I want to ask Nick about it because it is, it is something. 39 points in any leagues, a lot of points. But as I saw that, I thought to myself, okay, maybe he's a late bloomer. I still think he feels like as a 6:2 non point guard, a rotational player.
- [12:23]
Nick Wright
Of course.
- [12:23]
Colin Cowherd
Is that was that fair?
- [12:24]
Nick Wright
Of course. But that makes him, you know what a rotational player is a top 5% outcome for all second round picks in NBA history. If he is a rotational player, it will end up being one of the best two or three picks of the entire second round of his draft. Which is why the criticism of the pick, which is why folks, when he had a bad 10 minutes against the Sixers, going on and begging LeBron as a father to put an end to this farce and treating Bronny like he was a make a wish prospect was wildly unfair. The facts are as he was a legitimately excellent high school player who in the summer going into his freshman year of college, suffered cardiac arrest due to congenital heart failure. That then made it to where they thought for a moment he might not ever be able to play sports again. And he had to, for the first time in his entire life, go months without working out, without playing ball. That led to a very poor freshman year of college. All of that is the record of what happened. He then, after being drafted, was rough in the summer league and rough at the very beginning of the G league. But now that he's 18 months removed from the cardiac arrest, what we have is a player who is one of the younger players in the whole G League. One of only five guys 20 or younger averaging 20 plus points per game in the G League, averaging 22, 5 and 5 on 46, 38, 80 splits. And a couple weeks ago got because of the situation Lakers were in injury wise, real NBA burn and looked totally fine. And so my issue was twofold with the Bronny discourse. The first part of it was I thought everyone had totally just memory hold that he suffered a major medical event and that I think he would have been better off in the public's eye if he simply sat out his freshman year rather than rushing back and averaging four points per game. That was the first issue I had. The second issue I had was this idea that it was a reckless use of the third to last pick of the draft when if I were running an NBA team and LeBron was retired for a decade. And it's like, hey, who's on our board? And they're like, oh, tell me about this kid from usc. And they're like, oh, as it happens, you know, his father's literally the greatest raw athlete in the history of the country. He has no character concerns whatsoever. He's a little undersized. We have questions about his shooting, but his character, IQ and jeans are 10 out of 10. Yeah, I'd take a flyer on him. It was a totally reasonable pick and he is now exceeding any reasonable expectations. And so I'm not talking about you here, Colin. I thought some folks who always like to take shots at LeBron used Bronny as a vehicle to get to LeBron. And I thought that was shameful. And I will add one other point to this. LeBron put extra pressure on him by confronting Stephen A. That's not why he did it, but that is because LeBron, what he did there was A bigger spotlight on Bronny in the days that followed. And I think it's really impressive that he has played his best basketball since that moment with higher scrutiny on him.
- [16:11]
Colin Cowherd
So we don't talk a lot of college basketball, but I had a take yesterday that I actually think sometimes culturally you benefit from big change. Sometimes you're a victim of it. And college basketball had a pretty bleak last 15 years. The G League did not help, but I also think it didn't necessarily help the NBA because I think players are better going to college where, I mean.
- [16:32]
Nick Wright
You can take $400,000 getting marketed.
- [16:34]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I mean, like you can take $400,000 of the G League or $22 million of free advertising at North Carolina for your likeness. I would go to college for a year and by the way, get taken care of like, because all kids do to some degree. So my take is actually the nil is great for college basketball. It'll keep a Zach Eady in for one more year because you can pay him some money. And secondly, these teams that have a whole. I don't have to get a. They don't have to get a high school guy. Let's just go get like marshals, mid majors, NBA guy. And I think it's great for the sport that there's no Cinderellas because it was mostly mythology anyway and the big brands are better and the ratings are up.
- [17:17]
Nick Wright
All right, so this is one of your less popular but more accurate takes. Also, to be fair, it is not lost on me that you are at your peak interest in college basketball. Simultaneous with you having, what do you have? 15 of the 16 sweet 16 alive. What it is like all of a sudden you're really into this tournament.
- [17:41]
Colin Cowherd
I don't blame you, buddy.
- [17:42]
Nick Wright
That's hell of a run. Broussard has 11 of 16. He won't shut up about it. You got 15 of 16. I'm impressed. So a couple things. One is this. I don't like folks acting as if a one year event is evidence of this is how it's going to be. Like folks like, there's no mid majors in the sweet 16. Well, first of all, this is that is a streak of one tournament. And second of all, even this tournament, if not for a literal buzzer beater by Maryland, we would have a mid major in the sweet 16. So I think the total death of Cinderella is, you know, is being stated prematurely. But your take for as long as I've remembered listening to you and that's. I mean, I'm much, much, much younger than you. So let's talk about when I'm a little kid. You've always had the take that big upsets early, create a worse tournament late.
- [18:44]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [18:45]
Nick Wright
And that. And so you kind of. You can pick and choose. Do you want an amazing, exciting first weekend and then a not so great second weekend or a chalky first weekend and then what should be an unreal second weekend?
- [19:02]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [19:03]
Nick Wright
And that's what I feel we got.
- [19:04]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [19:05]
Nick Wright
You look at these point spreads. Every game is a six and a half point line or smaller except for two. And those two games are seven and a half and nine and a half. The only double digit seed we have is coached by John Calipari and it's Arkansas. Like so, like almost every team remaining has a plausible path.
- [19:29]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [19:29]
Nick Wright
Of creating a really good game. And so. And I didn't think last weekend was bad at all.
- [19:35]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [19:35]
Nick Wright
And I thought the games were good. I understand that it's fun when there is a 15 seed or a 14 seed that makes some noise. But you kind of want that noise to crescendo with a great Round 2 loss rather than them getting whacked in the Sweet 16 by a great team. So I agree with you on this. And I think Thursday through Sunday we are going to get. There's going to be 12 games. I think we probably are going to get nine awesome ones. And that's a rarity for the Sweet 16 Elite 8. So I'm excited for it.
- [20:11]
Colin Cowherd
So I said this. This is a rare take by me that I said actually. And I've always felt this. I used to say this about Phil Jackson when he would criticize the refs and go, I can't believe I'm like, you're too smart to act dumb. Right. Like, like Belichick. You're too smart to pretend Spygate caught you off guard. Like you're too smart. And it's. I kind of look at Aaron Rodgers. He's too smart to really sign with a bad fit. And Pittsburgh, that can't get their own line right, spends all their money on defense, has two needy combustible receivers. It sounds good. It's a bad fit. And Aaron knows it's a bad fit, but he wants to be respectful to a guy he loves. Tomlin. That Aaron is sitting there thinking the Niners don't want to pay Brock Purdy 60 million and his agent keeps saying that's what they want. And he is just going to wait till the draft is over because if Kirk Cousins would have waited last year until the draft's over he would have had a better fit. And Aaron's like 59 quarterbacks played last year. What's the hurry? Signing somebody's going to be desperate in seven weeks and he's waiting for the Niners if they don't sign Purdy. Am I nuts? Why is he waiting?
- [21:30]
Nick Wright
So here's the thing, man, what you're saying I wish I could agree with. But you're saying, why is he waiting? And the answer is, well, let's think about the. Because I believe there's. I believe Aaron Rodgers is going to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. I think the Steelers know it. I think Aaron knows it. So then the question is, what is gained by waiting? And the answer is, well, one thing that could be gained is just raw, unadulterated ego. I get. I am still free agencies done for everyone else, I am the hot topic. I am being discussed that that tracks with what I know of Aaron a bit. So that's a possibility. The second reason, and I think this is the most likely, is this is how you shift power in a relationship. Like neither you nor I have been single for a very, very long time. But I'm sure a lot of the viewers are and everyone knows that if you are the person saying, hey, will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Will you go out with me? Wait, I don't know. I don't know. And then when that person finally says yes and you have been waiting and waiting and waiting, that person has the power. So if Aaron was worried about, ooh, if I go to Pittsburgh, am I going to have full run of the place like I did with the Jets? One way to ensure you will is to prove how valuable you are before you even get there. Because they will wait, they will host you, you'll leave and then they'll still wait. And the last one is off season, you know, activities are starting up here in a month and maybe he doesn't want to do them. I just, I, I think he knows the only place he's going to play football this year is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Florio postulated that he's trying to make some grand announcement at a live show in Pittsburgh in a couple weeks maybe. But I think Aaron has known it's Pittsburgh for a long time. I think the Steelers have mostly known and he's dragging this out because he can and because it serves Aaron Rodgers. I love your idea that he could parachute in to a better team or a better situation, but I think most of those better teams are not as desperate and I Think they are better run from an offensive standpoint to where they wouldn't say, yeah, we'll sign up for the 41 year old who hasn't been good in four years. And so I think it's the Steelers, and I think he's just making everybody wait because he can.
- [23:58]
Colin Cowherd
All right, I got a couple more questions. I'm going to do it tonight when we do our own thing. I. We got it.
- [24:03]
Nick Wright
Oh, I thought, well, yeah, no, I know because I'm on a hard 15 minute limit. I'm no Bill Simmons. I can't get 26 minutes with you. No, I get it, I get it. You and I will talk later. You save those. See, save those extended segments for the big guests, not the loyal guy for the last eight years. Talk to you later, Colin.
- [24:21]
Colin Cowherd
See, right, first things for. Well, we, you know, we don't get Simmons a lot. You know, it's like when the cousin shows up that shows up once a decade. You let him stay the night, you know, in the basement, but you let him stay the night.
- [24:34]
Nick Wright
He didn't.
- [24:34]
Colin Cowherd
He didn't like when I threw out the El Paso donuts. That didn't land with him. He didn't. He didn't like that. Can we laugh? It's just, it's a sports show. You didn't like that one either. That really bothered you. Hey, hey, listen, he scored 39. Spent. I gave, I gave Nick four minutes to talk effusively about Brawny. I. I've said before, I hope he ends up being a nice player. I don't root against anybody's kid.
- [24:57]
Jason McIntyre
Do you think all the talking heads who criticized him are feeling like, oh, maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was irrationally rushing to judgment to slander this kid for being a second round pick?
- [25:08]
Colin Cowherd
Well, let's.
- [25:09]
Jason McIntyre
I mean, he's hanging 39 in the G league. That's pretty damn good. I thought I could get a few buckets in there, but.
- [25:15]
Colin Cowherd
No, I mean, I.
- [25:16]
Jason McIntyre
Listen, you watch the. Ronnie's getting buckets. He's getting better. That's obvious. He's 20.
- [25:21]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, well, he. Yeah, he's gonna. Yeah, he was a hard worker. I mean, if you're LeBron's kid, you're gonna be a grinder. Yeah, he's a worker, but, you know.
- [25:28]
Jason McIntyre
People were really quick to just dismiss him. Oh, he averaged three points at usc. How could they draft him? Well, maybe the Lakers said, hey, besides LeBron, this guy's got some decent potential.
- [25:37]
Colin Cowherd
And I like to see him. I defended the Lakers drafting. I said, weak draft LeBron's DNA. And why not? I mean, it's, it's, it's like the Griffey thing. It's like, it's an all time historic move. LeBron's carried the league for 15 years. You owe LeBron a solid. I also supported the first game when he played, even though he wasn't ready.
- [25:57]
Jason McIntyre
Shouldn't have been there. Fine.
- [25:58]
Colin Cowherd
Okay. No, but I supported that. I. But you know, when you rushed him up after a good G league game, I was like, stop. Let's, let's just be honest about what he is at this point.
- [26:07]
Jason McIntyre
I don't know what he's going to. Is he going to be a rotational guy in the league? I don't know.
- [26:10]
Colin Cowherd
I don't know either. But I did give the floor for somebody to speak.
- [26:13]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, it's good, you know, we need people speaking up because there's so many mouth breathers out there yelling he shouldn't.
- [26:18]
Colin Cowherd
Be in the league.
- [26:19]
Jason McIntyre
And LeBron's stepping up and confronting.
- [26:22]
Colin Cowherd
I wouldn't even give Nick the opportunity to combat my puka take because like you, he comes from the generation of sleep till noon, ice cream for breakfast, sleep till noon.
- [26:31]
Jason McIntyre
You're looking at a guy who grinded. I would wake up at six in the morning and run the big lead while listening to Howard Stern before going to my full time job. So miss me with the wake up at noon stuff. That was like my college.
- [26:42]
Colin Cowherd
Was that your two earring era?
- [26:44]
Jason McIntyre
Yes, it was my two earrings. And then I met the wife and she's like, yeah, that's not gonna work.
- [26:48]
Colin Cowherd
She told you that?
- [26:49]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [26:50]
Colin Cowherd
She just said, get rid of those.
- [26:52]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [26:52]
Colin Cowherd
Well, I like her a lot. Yeah. There's got to be a grown up in the family. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. With Amex, there's always a new experience to expl. From curating the perfect vacation and chilling in the centurion lounge before you get there trying out that new trendy restaurant thanks to priority notify with global dining access by resy and getting straight to the action at the big game with card member entrances at select venues.
- [27:25]
Jason McIntyre
With amex Platinum, you can experience it all.
- [27:28]
Colin Cowherd
That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Access to the card member entrance not limited to the American Express platinum card. Learn more@americanexpress.com with AmEx, you know, buying a home used to be a huge headache. You had to go to different places for listings, pre approval financing. It was exhausting and confusing. But now Rocket is putting everything you need in one place. Rocket.com a single seamless home ownership platform to help you find, buy, sell, finance, even refinance your home. You'll find smarter tools, personalized dashboards, real time insights and more. All the things you need to make the kind of informed decisions that can make a big difference for you and your family. So whether you're buying your first home, managing home ownership tasks, or unlocking equity for future opportunities, there's only one destination that has everything you need all under one roof. Every home at one address. Rocket.com the new home for all things home ownership. Whether you're buying or refinancing, you have to just give a look because it's all there. Rock it. Own the Dream. This podcast is brought to you by Pfizer. If you're 50 or older, getting sick can keep you away from where you need to be. You don't want surprises like pneumococcal pneumonia or invasive pneumococcal disease. You're 6.4 times more likely to get pneumococcal pneumonia compared with adults 18 to 49. It's recommended that people 50 or older get vaccinated. Being sick could get between you and the people who rely on you, so schedule your shot@vaxassist.com youm can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Did I tell you that I got 15 to 16 teams left in the tournament?
- [29:46]
Jason McIntyre
No, you hadn't mentioned that.
- [29:48]
Colin Cowherd
Wow.
- [29:48]
Jason McIntyre
Impressive. Well done Cow.
- [29:49]
Colin Cowherd
Hers by the way. I know I'm going to go up and you're going to have a very strong finish because you have Duke and you know they're rolling and I, you know, I took some. I got a little precious with my Arizona pick because I love love the guard and I like the Duke.
- [30:01]
Jason McIntyre
You took Arizona over Duke?
- [30:03]
Colin Cowherd
Well, I have Arizona getting to the final Four, so I know that's not a great pickles.
- [30:09]
Jason McIntyre
Could turn Thursday night, huh? I would say we should get together and have a drink. But you know, I get a little heated during these games. You do got some cheddar on Duke.
- [30:17]
Colin Cowherd
So you like, you like March Madness more than the NBA, but you like the NBA more than college basketball. But March Madness. If I ranked NBA playoffs. March Madness regular season. Right. Your number one is March Madness.
- [30:32]
Jason McIntyre
Oh, the tournament is un. You can't touch it. I mean, it's amazing. It's.
- [30:35]
Colin Cowherd
I was reading something last night. Some legendary college basketball sports. Better was like 11 for 12 because he. He didn't go chalk. He's one of these. The committee doesn't know what they're. The committee doesn't know what they're doing. The committee is most accurate every year. But there, there is something about guys in general. I don't know if women do this, but you know, guys love to brag. Like I heard the garage band before. They were big. Like I, I remember listening to, you know, the Smashing pumpkins in the 60s or you know, I was at the. You know, it's just like. Yeah, they didn't really exist until like the 90s or whatever. But. And there is something about like I watch a lot of college basketball. So you don't have a social.
- [31:19]
Jason McIntyre
It's almost like the soccer guys that you were blasting yesterday. I know soccer. I was on board early. I will say this. I coach my kids to get chalky with their brackets and my daughter's first in her class, so badge of honor there.
- [31:32]
Colin Cowherd
You don't do that. But she does.
- [31:33]
Jason McIntyre
Well, I don't do it with all my brackets. You know, I'm a 910 bracket.
- [31:36]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. That's exhausting.
- [31:38]
Jason McIntyre
Not really.
- [31:38]
Colin Cowherd
I'm surprised. Like your earrings. Your wife doesn't put her foot down with that.
- [31:42]
Jason McIntyre
Should we do the news?
- [31:43]
Colin Cowherd
Should we move on J. Mack with the news? No, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline news.
- [31:52]
Jason McIntyre
And because we like to cater to you, let's start with the Patriots. Your team of destiny this year. Very active in free agency. Rabel's the new head coach. Patriots EVP Elliott Wolf says that their off season work will give them flexibility in the draft. The best player available is going to be the way it is. Maybe we went for a little bit too much last year. Obviously that culminated in us drafting Drake. Maybe so it wasn't all bad, but just moving forward, it's taking the best player and understanding that we filled a lot of needs in free agency. Colin, this is a tough one because Travis Hunter will be on the board at 4 unless he somehow goes to do you take Travis Hunter. It's not a great need at receiver.
- [32:37]
Colin Cowherd
Well, I think Travis. I think one of the things about New England in Belichick's last year and Mayo's year, they're slow and they don't have any perimeter speed. So I would take Travis Hunter and just say he'll be a top two athlete in every game he plays. He may not be the best player, but there probably won't be five athletes better than him on the field. So my take is you take Travis Hunter and as a coaching staff, you have to. When he goes in motion, you have to put somebody on him a roll coverage because he's going to get open. So I think, I think it. I think in most drafts you would hope that you're not unathletic going into the draft. But even Brable's free agent pickups were more beef guys and tough guys than they were speed guys.
- [33:22]
Jason McIntyre
That's. That's the tough part because they could go offensive lineman beef. You know, Vrabel was a trenches guy. Or they could go Travis Hunter. Remember how Vrabel reacted when they traded A.J.
- [33:32]
Colin Cowherd
Brown?
- [33:32]
Jason McIntyre
The GM traded a crushed. Yeah, he was devastated. He's like, oh my gosh, what are we going to do?
- [33:36]
Colin Cowherd
Also remember Vrabel came from Tennessee, who, who always had big tough guys. They lacked weapons outside of Derrick Henry. So Vrabel's probably looking about and thinking, smart guy. What got me in a little trouble in Tennessee, I didn't have power with personnel and we just didn't have enough weapons. Right. Like, so he knows Drake May is a better prospect than Ryan Tannhill. So that solves that. I think Vrabel probably says, my teams will always be physical and tough like Harbaughs. We need. We need speed. When he got in big trouble is when he lost his most dynamic playmaker in Tennessee.
- [34:10]
Jason McIntyre
Next story is another Cowherd special, and that's the Dallas Mavericks. They returned Anthony Davis to the lineup last night. We got hurting first game he ever played with Dallas, so he returned against Brooklyn. It was a cupcake win. Davis 12.6 boards, three assists, a steal and a block. 26 minutes in action and your Mavericks are fired up about AD returning, as is he.
- [34:34]
Colin Cowherd
It was tough RGC guys, little radical every single night, you know, winning close games, losing close games, blowing tames out. Being blown out for me was never, you know, I thought about I was going to come back and play, especially if I was healthy on demands. I heard there was no doubt I was going to come Back and play. But that makes you want to come out, you know, no unplayed, you know, with these guys and they read on the floor and how they battled each and every. You know, what can I say this? In the history of NBA trades, I don't think I've ever seen a player more disrespected than Anthony Davis. No timeout. He is the best defensive player arguably in the league. Luka's the worst star defensive player in the league. So he is a.
- [35:21]
Jason McIntyre
Is AD a better defender than Wembanyama?
- [35:24]
Colin Cowherd
I'm just saying. The Luka deal. The feeling is Mavericks are screwed. Lakers. Anthony Davis is arguably the best defender in the league, a better rebounder, in better shape, and can give you on any night 27, this idea that Dallas got nothing. This guy has three great years left and is a great player. And Max Christie. Now, now, would I have wanted three first round picks, not one? Absolutely. But I will make the argument with P.J. washington. Is it Gafford, Davis and Lively. They will have the best big rotation easily in the league and the best closer under 65 in league history in Kyrie.
- [36:12]
Jason McIntyre
Stop. Best closer in league history under six'five Stop it. That's nonsense. He's very good.
- [36:18]
Colin Cowherd
Kyrie.
- [36:18]
Jason McIntyre
He had one shot against the warriors in game seven. All right, time out. I do have to push back just a little bit.
- [36:24]
Colin Cowherd
AD Is great.
- [36:25]
Jason McIntyre
AD Is great.
- [36:25]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, great.
- [36:26]
Jason McIntyre
I largely agree they have the potential, if everybody's healthy, really good. But was P.J. washington, lively, gafford? Were they all awesome because they were playing with Luka Doncic, who makes everyone better? Are they going to be awesome playing with Kyrie? I mean, what was Daniel Gafford before he got to the max? Come on. He was in Washington. Whatever. Derek Lively. I think he's the 10th overall pick.
- [36:47]
Colin Cowherd
He's a good player.
- [36:48]
Jason McIntyre
I like him a lot. Yeah, he was great with Luca. We have no data of him without Luca.
- [36:53]
Colin Cowherd
Well, that's because Luca's guy blew by him and Lively got a block shot credit.
- [36:59]
Jason McIntyre
Who's feeding this guy negative jokes about Luca? Oh, my gosh. Final story, Colin. Oh, here we go. Bronnie went off last night. It is the G League, but he hung 39 on. Would you call them the El Segundo Nights? 39.7 boards, 4 steals, 4 assists. And that was after he dropped 17 on somebody playing with the Lakers recently. I'm just saying. Yeah, the guy is. He's not the chop liver that everybody thought he was. He's not the Nepo baby. Everybody thought well, he can play basketball.
- [37:32]
Colin Cowherd
I'm not anti nepotism.
- [37:34]
Jason McIntyre
I'm not either.
- [37:35]
Colin Cowherd
I'm saying a, he's probably a late bloomer because of cardiac arrest.
- [37:42]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [37:42]
Colin Cowherd
Secondly, because, you know the average height in the NBA? 6, 6 and a half, 6, 7. He is fast and he blows by people. Now, he's not John Wall fast or Iverson fast, but Bronnie's athletic. And when you watch the footage, he's just fast. He gets past people really quickly. Now is, does he have the ability to pull up and hit shots? He did last night. But there, there. He's an athlete. I mean it. He got some decent genetics. He's a, he's an athlete. And, and I think he has a work ethic. You can tell from his body, his shape. Dude works. He works at it. So I, this is a good story. I, I didn't, I thought rushing him after he had that one good game of the G League rushing him up, I thought that was like, come on, stop. And I, I don't think there's a history of 62 non point guards in the league. So I don't know what his role is. Is it highly athletic, fast guy, transition guy, off the bench? That's a role.
- [38:33]
Jason McIntyre
Probably find your role. Yeah. So just Remember he's averaging 25 and 5 in the G League as a rookie. And as you noted earlier, the G League's full of like 29 year olds who are still hanging on to the dream that they can make it into an NBA roster. They're trying hard and he's kind of sort of cooking these.
- [38:49]
Colin Cowherd
You know what I'd like? I would love to talk to a G League player anonymously. Just be totally honest. I don't want to hurt your dream, but if we could do like put somebody on and put a filter on and let's, let's. Is he good? What are you saying? What are the players saying? Is there animosity? I would love to talk to a G League player that isn't going to get called out or like a fear of reprisal or you know, get into trouble because the G League is something nobody, very few people watch. And I, and I wonder if there is a lot of animosity there. Maybe not. Maybe people are rooting for the kids.
- [39:22]
Jason McIntyre
I know fans are. Anything he goes to, they're like applauding when he gets.
- [39:25]
Colin Cowherd
Oh, he's also. I've known people that know him. He's a nice kid. He's an easy guy to root for. He's not cocky he's not. He's like a nice guy. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the herd lie news. Today's show's been a little combustible. I got Nick calling me out because I won't give him 26 minutes. You know, it's sometimes, you know, you don't know who your friends are. J. Mac. Apparently this going forward is just wants more vacation and is going to publicly state it on his ig.
- [39:58]
Jason McIntyre
Well, you. You negotiated your deal. Mine's in the works. We'll see what happens.
- [40:03]
Colin Cowherd
I wouldn't use the V word.
- [40:04]
Jason McIntyre
You're saying I wouldn't lead with I need six weeks vacation.
- [40:06]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, what's. What's sick pay like here? Probably not.
- [40:09]
Nick Wright
What?
- [40:09]
Jason McIntyre
I would take it a sick day here in eight years, bro.
- [40:11]
Colin Cowherd
Come on, you do play her.
- [40:13]
Jason McIntyre
I don't get sick because I'm a machine. I'm an Adonis. I work out all the time.
- [40:17]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, I see what you eat him to laugh. I wouldn't go Adonis.
- [40:21]
Jason McIntyre
Okay.
- [40:22]
Colin Cowherd
No, I mean, you eat like.
- [40:24]
Jason McIntyre
Hey, chicken parm coming up. Here, you want a piece?
- [40:27]
Colin Cowherd
No, I don't eat big meals at noon. You. I've never seen anybody eat like you at noon. I would fall asleep driving home. I don't even understand it.
- [40:34]
Jason McIntyre
Fasting, my friend. I don't do breakfast. I shake.
- [40:39]
Colin Cowherd
Look at that.
- [40:40]
Jason McIntyre
He's not impressed.
- [40:41]
Colin Cowherd
He's J. Mac. All right. Live in la, it's 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. 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 Apple. 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 to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for 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 most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich 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. With amex, there's always a new experience to explore, from curating the perfect vacation and chilling in the Centurion Lounge before you get there trying out that new trendy restaurant. Thanks to Priority Notify with global dining, access by Resy and getting straight to the action at the big game with card member entrances at select venues with.
- [42:11]
Jason McIntyre
AMEX Platinum, you can experience it all.
- [42:13]
Colin Cowherd
That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Access to the card member entrance not limited to the American Express Platinum card. Learn more@americanexpress.com with Amex. You know, buying a home used to be a huge headache. You had to go to different places for listings, pre approval financing. It was exhausting and confusing. But now Rocket is putting everything you need in one place. Rocket.com a single, seamless home ownership platform to help you find, buy, sell, finance, even refinance your home. You'll find smarter tools, personalized dashboards, real time insights and more. All the things you need to make the kind of informed decisions that can make a big difference for you and your family. So whether you're buying your first home, managing homeownership tasks, or unlocking equity for future opportunities, there's only one destination that has everything you need. All under one roof. Every home at one address. Rocket.com the new home for all things home ownership. Whether you're buying or refinancing, you have to just give a look because it's all there. Rocket Own the Dream. This podcast is brought to you by Pfizer. Let's talk health. You may not know about pneumococcal disease, but if you're 50 or older or 19 or older with certain medical conditions like diabetes, you're at risk. And it could turn your plans, big or small, into a hospital visit. So get vaccinated. It's one action you can take to help protect against pneumococcal pneumonia, an invasive pneumococcal disease. Keep enjoying everything you're looking forward to, even if it's just a podcast. Schedule a shot@vaxassist.com you can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile, keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Required card has no cash access and expires in six months.
- [44:29]
Jason McIntyre
And the Astros 4 the Braves take on the Padres Baseball Night in America returns Saturday at 7 Eastern on Fox. Check local listings for the game in your area.
- [44:39]
Colin Cowherd
I'm really into it this year. You know, I'm sitting there. You know what I think is a dumb part of the pre draft process is pro day workouts indoors, you know, throwing against air. I think it's so dumb. Like I want game footage for three years. I want you to go to the Senior bowl and if you want to go to the combine to interview them, go for it. I do want my scouts to stand next to the players and like let, let's see what it looks like. Let's see the shoulders, the butt, the size, the hand size. And I want game tape. There's nothing about pro day that is similar at all to playing in the NFL. Totally comfortable. You, you basically worked out for the pro day. You've practiced routes for the pro. It's the opposite. NFL is a winter league, a fall winter league. It's sloppy, it's cold, it's windy, you have bad protection. I get game footage. I get the Senior Bowl. Senior bowl. You're competing against guys you wouldn't normally compete against. And I get to walk around and see how big you are. I don't need to, I don't need to go to a Cam Ward pro day. There's nothing I'm going to see. He's got a really good arm and he's a very good athlete. So I just, I don't think it has any value. I really don't. I just think it's, and the Senior bowl does such a great job to let you see the players get up close to the players. I mean you're, they're walking by it. You're, that's what you want to see. You want to see a guy's real size. A lot of guys, you know, you see them on tape and then you're up next to him and you're like, you know, he's not as big as I thought. He's just not as thick as I thought. But the pro day stuff doesn't do a thing. Zach Wilson lit it up at pro day. I mean, lit it up. In fact, I thought will Levis hurt himself at pro day with a gun show? It's like, dude, come on, you want to be a bodybuilder or quarterback? I had Nick Wright on earlier to talk about, we were, we were talking about what I believe every league has an unsolvable problem. Baseball, not enough urgency, the season's too long. Hockey, most of us didn't play it as kids. Football, violence that people get hurt sometimes. Seriously. And I think load management, you can, you can manage a little bit by not giving out awards unless you play 65 games, which matters to a lot of players, bonuses tied to that, I don't think you can avoid tanking. I think basketball prodigies, you can spot them at 15 years old. And teams go into a two year, three year plan to get Cooper Flag, Luka Wemby, LeBron. I don't think there's anything you can do about it. And Nick talked about that the fix.
- [47:15]
Nick Wright
Would be the way that they can, you know, that they enforce other rules, which is real financial penalties for teams the league hit. Who did they hit recently? Utah, I think with 100. They hit somebody with $100,000 fine. And I'm sure the Jazz were like, have you seen, with respect, the Sixers the last three weeks? Where's their fine? When you're talking about issues with the NBA, I don't think tanking is high on the fans list. I think good teams whose good players rest, load, load management, I think that is a far greater fan concern than the bad teams throwing games at the end of the year.
- [47:56]
Colin Cowherd
But load management is being curtailed by a younger generation of players like Tatum, SGA and ant. They like playing Wemby, likes playing the old guys who have their money, they want nights off tanking, there's nothing you can do about it. If I, if I just want to rest guys. And I, and I also think even if you find Steve Ballmer, who's got, I don't know what Steve Ballmer's net worth is, it's probably $40 billion. What if you find him $70 million, which would be unprecedented, he makes that a Microsoft stock on a good day when it goes up eight points. So you're not really, I mean I would, if I was worth $20 billion and you find me a million dollars because I'm tanking to get Cooper flag, I would pay that 100 out of 100 times. That wouldn't bother me at all. I, I, I mean so Bulmer here, my staff did this is worth a hundred sixteen billion dollars if Palmer could get Cooper flag what possible fine could you levy that would curtail him tanking the coach isn't going to, you know, I mean it's. I, I just. I don't think you can solve it. It's unsolved. Football is going to have some violence. Baseball's a long season. And hockey. Most of us don't grow up on a rink. I don't. I load management. The young guys are playing. That could have been an old, old guy thing and a generational thing. Young guys want to play. Tatum's playing every night. Hour 3 Next this is Nikki Glazer from the Nikki Glazer Podcast. Have you guys seen this new commercial from Stand up to All Hate? It's basically Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady going back and forth with reasons that they hate each other. But then when you really listen to.
- [49:45]
Nick Wright
Them, the reasons for the hate are just so stupid.
- [49:48]
Colin Cowherd
I don't know. This commercial really got me. It's a strong reminder that hate in our country continues to be out of control. So join us at iHeart in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up. Call it out. Your voice is a powerful tool in this fight. You can learn more by following ot'supwithhate with the Stock up sale at Safeway and Albertsons. Stock up and earn four times points at your local store when you purchase participating products. Save now on your favorite beverages for Red bull, coke, monster 7up body armor and Pepsi. Clip the offer in the app for event savings and look for participating items throughout the store. Shop in store or online. Plus you can even have your groceries delivered or use Drive up and Go to have your groceries brought to your car at the store. Restrictions and exclusions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details. We live in a divided country and.
- [50:37]
Nick Wright
Our media couldn't be more polarizing.
- [50:39]
Colin Cowherd
That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the.
- [50:43]
Jason McIntyre
Extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation.
- [50:47]
Nick Wright
Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle.
- [50:52]
Colin Cowherd
You also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses.
- [50:55]
Nick Wright
On just one item from the avalanche of news.
- [50:58]
Colin Cowherd
Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson.
- [51:00]
Nick Wright
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ever wonder what it would be like to be mentored by today's top business leaders? My podcast this Is Working can help with that. Here's adv Advice from Google CMO Lorraine2Hill on how to treat AI like a partner.
- [51:17]
Jason McIntyre
I see AI as an incredible co pilot. You may use different tools or toys.
- [51:22]
Colin Cowherd
To get the work done, but AI is just the latest flavor of that. You're still the judge of what good looks like. I'm Dan Roth, LinkedIn's editor in chief. On my podcast this is Working Leaders.
- [51:31]
Jason McIntyre
Share Strategies for Success.
- [51:33]
Nick Wright
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
- [51:36]
Colin Cowherd
Or wherever you get your podcasts.