THE HERD - Hour 1 - Lakers get swept by OKC, the future for LeBron, upcoming NFL season

Summary

Podcast Summary: THE HERD with Colin Cowherd

Episode: Hour 1 – Lakers get swept by OKC, the future for LeBron, upcoming NFL season
Date: May 12, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd centers on the fallout from the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff sweep at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Colin breaks down the Lakers’ roster-building problems, reflects on LeBron James’ uncertain future, examines shifting realities for NBA contenders, explores early NFL schedule releases and forecasts, discusses the state of major college football rivalries (with a focus on USC–Notre Dame), and touches briefly on NBA draft prospects.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lakers Swept by OKC: Roster Construction vs. Star Power

(03:14–09:40, 13:41–14:08, 18:13–23:50, 29:05–31:48)

• Clarity in Defeat:
  “When you play a great team it creates clarity: how far are we from being great?” – Colin (03:16)
  Lakers fans may lament missing Luka, but OKC was without Jalen Williams. The real difference was roster construction.

• Role Player Value:
  Oklahoma City’s success hinges on young, cost-controlled talent:

  • AJ Mitchell: 3 years, $9M; 23 PPG vs. L.A.; tremendous plus-minus (+63 this series).
  • Jared McCain: Promising rookie, stellar 3-point shooter.
  • Lakers have no comparable value outside soon-to-be expensive Austin Reaves and aging Marcus Smart.

• Lakers’ Flawed Model:
  The franchise operates with a “big-budget, star-focused” mentality suited to a bygone NBA. With new salary cap realities, today’s league increasingly resembles the NFL:
  “The NBA used to be a big budget movie. Pay whatever it takes. Put all the stars on one team... That’s not the NBA today.” – Colin (04:39)
  Teams like OKC and San Antonio are maximizing value and flexibility at the bottom and middle of the roster.

• Performance in Defeat:
  Both Colin and J.J. Redick praised the Lakers’ fight and Redick’s coaching, but recognized they’re structurally outmatched:
  “I’ve never seen a coach get swept who had a better series than JJ Redick.” – Colin (09:05)

• J.J. Redick on Lakers’ Future:
  “You have to be realistic and assess where you’re at, and we’re not good enough right now.” (09:20)

Notable Quote

“If you want to convince yourself, ‘Well, if Luka played...’ Oklahoma City will be better next year. LeBron will be older next year.”
— Colin Cowherd (10:14)

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2. LeBron’s Uncertain Future: Decisions, Legacy, and Roster Fit

(18:13–23:50, 21:32–21:53)

• Free Agency & Family:
  Though Dwyane Wade suggests LeBron may take time to decide his future, Colin argues the Lakers have more leverage due to LeBron’s preference for L.A., both for personal and professional reasons: “It’s one of the few cities in America that LeBron can hide... family loves L.A., would like to retire in L.A.” (18:28)

• Roster Fit with Luka:
  The potential return of Luka Doncic brings its own complications:

  • “Luka needs the ball in his hands. LeBron’s at his best with the ball in his hands. Austin Reaves is at his best with the ball in his hands. It doesn’t work.” (19:32)
  • Lakers lack complementary off-ball defenders/scorers. Needed types: Jaden McDaniels (Timberwolves), OG Anunoby (Knicks).

• LeBron’s Mindset:
  “LeBron’s favorite book is ‘The Godfather’... maybe he needs to realize it’s nothing personal—it’s just business.” (20:55)

• LeBron (on his future):

  “I don’t know what the future holds for me… I’ll sit back… recalibrate with my family, and when the time comes, obviously you guys will know what I decide to do.”
  — LeBron James (21:32)

• Long-Term Outlook:
  Colin draws NFL parallels (Tom Brady’s pay cut for team-building) and notes LeBron may need to accept less money for competitive roster construction:
  “Is he willing to basically on any given night be the most durable, effective player and take a massive pay cut?” (22:16)

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3. Maximizing NBA Roster Value: The Shift in Team Building

(04:39–07:56, 22:16–23:50)

• NFL Parallels:
  The new NBA CBA demands teams find surplus value—like the Seahawks and Eagles in the NFL, who sustain excellence by nailing non-star roster spots and draft picks.

• Key Takeaway:
  “You can only pay your quarterback, two receivers, an edge rusher, an elite corner—if you maximize the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round. That’s why the Seahawks win a Super Bowl, why the Rams are stacked, why the Eagles can keep affording… The new NBA is the same.” – Colin (07:41)

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4. Upcoming NFL Season: Schedule Leaks and Big-Market Hopes

(11:00–14:08, 26:04–28:24)

• Big Markets on the Rise?:
  Despite ten years of huge NFL ratings, New York and Chicago have rarely fielded winning teams concurrently—the NFL thrives even when its biggest markets don’t. Colin forecasts a return for major-market relevance in 2026:
  “I think this is the year that the big markets return to power… Both teams from L.A., Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia… Giants will be the most improved team in the league.” (12:37)

• Strength of Schedule Insights:

  • Bears have the toughest schedule; Dolphins/Cardinals also near top.
  • Browns and Saints face the easiest.
  • Colin believes schedule strength isn’t as significant for top teams with elite QB/coaching: “Schedule matters a ton for teams that are good, middle class… When you’re great at coach and quarterback, you’ll make the playoffs anyway.” (26:37)

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5. College Football: USC–Notre Dame Rivalry & Superconference Era

(33:54–39:11)

• Rivalries vs. Playoff Priority:
  Colin breaks down why old-school annual rivalries (like USC–Notre Dame) are being renegotiated or deprioritized in favor of playoff access and financial power in the superconference era.

  • “Life is about priorities. What do you prioritize if you’re a college football power? Priority number one now is get to the college football playoff.” (33:56)
  • Notre Dame is struggling to fill its schedule (per AD Pete Bavacqua); big programs now choose flexibility and quality control.

• Shift in Mindset:
  “Don’t get into your feels on this stuff… NIL funding and getting to the playoff: that is what matters.” (41:30)

• Marcus Freeman’s Thoughts:

  “For me it was the rivalry… it means something when you win that game.”
  — Marcus Freeman (38:44)

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6. Other Notable NBA & Sports Takes

(29:05–31:48, 31:48–33:47, 45:42–47:08, 47:08–51:06)

• OKC’s Ascent:
  SGA, AJ Mitchell, and Chet Holmgren power OKC’s deep playoff run; their cost-control and depth draw Colin’s admiration.

  • SGA on playoff challenges: “The rust has been taking its toll on me, but yeah, stay in the gym, trust the work, it’ll all even out.” (29:54)

• NBA Draft Prospects:
  AJ Dybonta is likely the #1 pick, but Colin warns his playing style won’t mesh well with ball-dominant stars like Trae Young (Wizards). Darren Peterson pegged as the main challenger, but there’s concern about his health and lack of playmaking for others:
  “Peterson plays completely in a silo. He doesn’t elevate anybody else, whereas Dybonta… can get others involved.” (47:42)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lakers’ Roster Problems:

  “The Lakers have one elite defender: Marcus Smart—and he is way past his prime. Again, Alex Caruso could defend; let him go for nothing.”
  — Colin (06:41)

• On LeBron’s Fit and Longevity:

  “LeBron’s still great, but in spurts… it’s going to be 64 games, 29 minutes; he’s going to miss some games.”
  — Colin (23:46)

• On NFL Big Markets:

  “The NFL has been skyrocketing for ten years and both New York City teams have been garbage… and the league is literally on fire.”
  — Colin (11:20)

• On College Football Evolution:

  “The worst thing you could do is now heavily promoted and a must to compete… paying high-school players.”
  — Colin (41:18)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Lakers/OKC & Roster Construction: 03:14–09:40
• J.J. Redick on Next Steps: 09:14–09:40
• LeBron’s Future and Lakers Leverage: 18:13–23:50
• NFL Schedule & Big Markets: 11:00–14:08, 26:04–28:24
• OKC’s Sweep, SGA’s Comments: 29:05–31:15
• College Football Rivalries, USC–Notre Dame: 33:54–39:11
• NBA Draft Prospects Discussion: 47:08–51:06

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In Summary

Colin Cowherd delivers a sharp dissection of the Lakers’ latest playoff disappointment, using it to illustrate shifts in NBA team-building philosophy and the decaying value of mere star accumulation. He parallels these lessons with trends in the NFL and college football’s new playoff-centric landscape, all while maintaining his signature blend of big-picture insight and candid, sometimes playful, directness.

Listeners are left with a clear understanding of why and how the Lakers lost, what it means for LeBron and the franchise’s future, and how evolving priorities across major sports are reshaping the ways champions are built.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

thanks for listening to the herd podcast be sure to catch us live every weekday on fox sports radio and noon to three eastern nine am to noon pacific find your local station for the herd at foxsportsradio dot com or stream us live every day on the iheartradio app by searching fox sports radio or fsr now let's get this party started

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

you're listening to fox sports radio

[Jason McIntyre]

here

[Colin Cowherd]

we go lakers season is over bounced swept by okc the defending champ wherever you may be however you may be listening nick wright an hour from now thanks for making us part of your day so when you play a great team it creates clarity how far are we away from being great and laker fans this morning can say well we didn't have luka well okc didn't have jalen williams all nba great defender second best guy for okc and this morning the lakers are left saying hey we played them kind of close this this series wasn't about stars let's not talk stars let's talk role players oklahoma city has a player named aj mitchell three years nine million dollars incredible value a playmaker can hit threes twenty three a game against la excellent defender best plus minus plus sixty three in the series three years nine million absolute value how about jared mccain for okc promising young player on a rookie deal excellent three point shooter you're talking about two guys who are basically free they're free players two young cheap ascending players the lakers roster has no value none i just gave you two of the seven or eight guys for okc that have value now that austin reaves is going to sign a big deal and he's going to get it they'll have no value and yet they're going to keep rob pelinka and keep austin reeves and keep lebron and luca with his defensive liabilities and durability issues is coming back let's bring them all back this series wasn't about stars lakers did a pretty good job on sga it was about roster construction one is brilliantly built the lakers gave alex caruso away let him walk in free agency didn't get a frozen pizza and get anything for him they're going to lose rui won't be able to afford him so the entire series about is about roster construction and the lakers excelled when the nba was like a big budget movie pay whatever it takes more stars cool matters big budget add another name everybody knows that's not the nba today it's about beating the market maximizing value like the nfl at the middle and bottom of a roster so you can pay two or three stars once again oklahoma city goes into a general generational great draft with two excellent draft picks the lakers won twenty fifth the best players all gone oklahoma city has seven or eight elite defenders some start some are off the bench two viable bigs energy youth cost control and again two great first round picks coming the lakers have one elite defender marcus smart and he is way past his prime again alex caruso could defend let him go for nothing so you want to bring everybody back you want to you want to convince yourself you know luca luca folks the lakers were the second slowest playoff team last year when they got run out of the building against minnesota this year if you want to know what direction they're going in they're the slowest team in the nba playoffs three years in a row they're the slowest or second slowest team they don't have enough three point shooters luke kennard's fine occasionally they're not athletic enough they don't have a rim protector and if you they're a mile away eight straight losses over eight this year against oklahoma city you know how hard it is to win eight straight games against the team i mean generally at some point like last night the lakers played their butt off jj redick coached his butt off the lakers staff was excellent in this series outstanding they got good coaching there's so many questions but you know when you play a great team usually in nba history it was who has the most stars that is not the new nba with the new cba and the aprons it's about maximizing value at the middle and the bottom of your roster so you can pay like the nfl josh allen or you can pay a great edge rusher you can only do that you can only pay your quarterback two receivers an edge rusher an elite corner if you maximize the fourth fifth sixth seventh round that's why the seahawks win a super bowl that's why the rams are stacked that's why the philadelphia eagles can keep affording it's like the eagles have a different bank are they doing it through a swiss bank how are they doing it because they nail picks that aren't stars that is the new nba so jj redick i'm looking at this morning lebron free agent rui free agent kennard free agent austin ayton smart player options i mean bring everybody back but okc san antonio they are ascending they've got value all over the roster when austin reeves gets paid the lakers have none here's jj redick who had a great series i've never seen a coach get swept who had a better series than jj redick here he is i believe in

[JJ Redick]

continuity but i do think that there's if you're trying to win a championship with this organization is and i'm trying to win a championship i know rp's trying to win a championship i know jeannie is i know marcus like we're trying to win a championship and so you have to be realistic and assess where you're at and we're not good enough right now and there probably will be some continuity there probably won't be but that's that's what the next two

[Colin Cowherd]

months are for so we'll talk about that today with nick wright i'll talk about it after the break is where do you go you can talk yourself in i talked about this yesterday with the pittsburgh steelers well we we had a winning record what's the standard in los angeles the standard is the dodgers the standard is the rams the standard can't be well you know if you if luka played well jalen williams j dub didn't play for them and he actually unlike luca gives you a great effort on the defensive end so i mean again i thought the lakers played their butt off i watched every second of it i thought they played their butt off and they deserve credit down three oh playing that well i mean they deserve credit but if but if you're going to talk yourself into just need luca oklahoma city will be better next year lebron will be older next year all right so the cowboys are going to host the eagles on thanksgiving it's going to be week twelve it's going to be on fox so the official schedule release is going to be thursday it's tuesday stuff's going to be leaking out fox actually we don't know exactly when the dates are but they're going to have a day in which they get an international game on tv germany and then they get two domestic games on tv networks never had three games in one day like that that's pretty cool but what's remarkable about the nfl they they when you watch them release the schedule they're so intentional they totally get it is that the nfl has been skyrocketing for ten years and and both new york city teams have been garbage in fact many of the league's best teams are kansas city and baltimore and green bay and buffalo and denver and seattle and not glamorous markets the nfl monetizes almost everything very well very little things they underachieve at but actually one of them is big markets don't do well chicago until last year a grease fire both new york teams embarrassing atlanta irrelevant dc was good for an hour they're back to being weird dallas i mean houston for years awful miami will be atrocious this year since nineteen eighty seven the jets and the giants have made the playoffs at the same time twice and the league is literally on fire and but market size matters new york and chicago have a combined eleven point five million tv households kansas city and buffalo combined for a couple million like big markets matter and i think this is the year that the big markets return to power i put out my herd hierarchy my post free agency post draft herd hierarchy both teams from la chicago detroit houston philadelphia and by the way dallas is somewhere around eleven or twelve and the new york giants to me will be the most improved team in the league matt hasselbeck last week post draft talking about a team that didn't make my herd hierarchy big market dallas you got teams

[J Mac]

like kansas city detroit baltimore minnesota tampa bay not even in the playoffs like all of a sudden seattle and new england teams that didn't even make the playoffs are now in the super bowl you got teams like chicago jacksonville carolina so what you're doing here is really really difficult to do to kind of forecast that because every year is different and so that's why i think there are teams that aren't on your list i would say like maybe the dallas cowboys i know what shot schottenheimer is saying in dallas he's saying guys like we can do this look what seattle just did look what new england just

[Colin Cowherd]

did yeah i think the cowboys in terms of talent now have ten eleven twelve elite players so the nfl schedule will continue to leak out interesting stuff dwayne wade talked about what lebron james is going to do they're close usc notre dame rivalry because notre dame came crawling back i'll explain that coming up

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

as well be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon eastern nine am pacific on fox sports radio fs one and the iheartradio app

[Jason McIntyre]

hey this is jason mcintyre join me every weekday morning on my podcast straight fire with jason mcintyre this isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day straight fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines accurate stats to help you win big at the sportsbook and all the best guests do yourself a favor and listen to straight fire with jason mcintyre on the iheartradio app

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

proud partner of the volume podcast network so was this last night was last night the last game for lebron james in the nba or the last game as a laker i i i doubt both but i saw a headline this morning that dwyane wade lebron's friend said lebron james is gonna take some time off before making a decision well it's not really lebron's decision it's the lakers his family loves la it's one of the few cities in america that lebron can hide because of the topography in the hills and the different areas of los angeles it's the most spread out city i've ever seen you can hide in la you you can hide in la sometimes the mayor hides people don't like that but you can hide in la and stars like that celebrities like that and i mean he came out lebron came out publicly in the last several months and said i don't even like road trips to milwaukee and memphis so like location matters to lebron i've been told family loves la would like to retire in la so but the lakers have leverage and the buses no longer own the team and the new owners i don't have any idea how they see the world but here's the thing that's interesting and may or may not play in lebron's favor if luka the best laker if he was physically durable oh wait he's not increasingly if he was a great two way player oh wait he's not he's an atrocious defender yeah if luca is your number one star who you surround luka with is really crucial forty two year old lebron and marginally athletic austin reeves to me are not great fits luca needs the ball in his hands lebron's at his best with the ball in his hands austin reeves is at his best with the ball in his hands it doesn't work it's a lopsided roster too much duplication it's not that lebron's not great i was looking at the numbers this morning he's fantastic his playoff numbers he's still an elite nba playoff performer team ranks this postseason points rebound assist steals usage he was the best laker now again luca did not play some of those numbers could come down but the kind of player the lakers need is an off ball player who can give you twenty two points without the ball in his hands and can defend on the wing jaden mcdaniels of the t wolves i talked about that six months ago he's the perfect fit og anunoby for the knicks he's a perfect fit knicks aren't giving him up and the t wolves aren't giving jaden mcdaniels up to the lakers those two guys wing defenders who don't need the ball in their hands the lakers need like four of them but if luke is your star there's a certain way you have to build and so what do you what do you say to lebron lebron's favorite book is the godfather he has said that before and maybe he needs to realize it's nothing personal it's just business because i look at lebron and i'm like he's still good in spurts great energy totally committed he'll be good for the next several years i mean even lebron doesn't know what his future is i don't know i mean

[LeBron James]

i don't know what the future holds for me obviously as it stands right now tonight i got a lot of time i'll sit back like i think i said it last year after we lost i think to minnesota there go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them and then when the time comes obviously you guys know what i

[Colin Cowherd]

decided to do so again if kareem was your best player in his prime or mj was your best player or kobe was your best player or giannis in his prime was your best player or wimy's your best player or ant is your best player you don't have to construct your roster a certain way but if carmelo is or luca is or even steph curry and there's a defensive hole there is a way you have to construct the roster to win titles and with i said this about luca there's a lot of carmelo here you have to be big athletic and have wing defenders who are elite and the lakers have none rim defender none youth value none so it's very difficult the problem is and it's not really a problem it's a reality lebron's net worth is a billion dollars somewhere between eight hundred and a billion two like michael jordan or a magic he's done very well is he willing to basically on any given night be the most durable effective player and take a massive pay cut jason temp on lebron and the chances of him returning yesterday the

[Jason Temp]

lakers because they were not able to get any sort of rookie scale role player talent over the last couple of years they don't have that luxury so because they have to pay austin lebron kind of has to be the casualty and it's unfair because frankly he was one of the ten best players i watched in this postseason so you could argue he's worth another max i think lebron will be on board with taking a discount because frankly you can tell in just how he's wired and how he looked in this postseason he wants to compete he wants to win he doesn't want to go through all this again to get his butt kicked he's

[Colin Cowherd]

too old for that yeah so i mean there's it's really fascinating and you know sometimes tom brady in the nfl and you can say because at the time his wife was rich but tom brady always understood in the nfl if you're if you're securing the most money at quarterback you're going to have limitations throughout the roster you never had to worry about lebron in his prime when he was giving you forty four minutes and could single handedly compete with matthew della vadova as the second best player in the finals you didn't worry about it lebron's still great but it spurs it's going to be sixty four games it's going to be twenty nine minutes he's going to miss some games so it's i don't know exactly what they're going to do my if you're really asking me what i maybe you're not what i would do is if luke is your guy you resign austin you try to get a reasonable deal eventually move him after a great first half next year try to pick up try to pick up pieces it's going to be a terrible draft next year you're not going to get any help in the draft but they're in a you know they have just been constructed so oddly that they're in a weird weird spot i mean you could bring the the band back but this is going to be the result houston's young and ascending spurs are young and ascending t wolves still ascending i mean the t wolves i feel bad for them it feels like phil mickelson in tigers prime minnesota may never win a title but they give everybody fits there's a tremendous roster give everybody trouble but they made it i mean just think about that minnesota maybe a have not in the west if you put minnesota in the east you can mark them down for the eastern conference finals or finals for the next four years their roster has everything you want and rudy gobert wing defenders youth experience great coaching but it's the west that's what makes it even tougher once lebron went east to west everything changed i mean in the east it was like oh we have to beat toronto that's not the way that's not the way it works west of the rockies j mac with the news

[Marcus Freeman]

no no no turn on the news

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

this is the herdline news all right

[Jason McIntyre]

let's get started with a little nfl schedule release coming out in what two days i mean we're starting to get little droplets but what we are be able to put together is strength of schedule now some people do it via win loss total in vegas we're going to do it based on opponent win percentage and colin bad news based on this one metric opponent win percentage the bears have the toughest schedule in the league i don't know if that has you concerned dolphins cardinals at the top by other metrics the cardinals are the toughest either way these are pretty much some of the toughest schedules you will

[Colin Cowherd]

find out there i don't think schedule matters as much when you're great at coach and great at quarterback no you're still going to make the playoffs i think schedule matters a ton for teams that are good they're like middle class slightly above slightly below so a team like cincinnati i don't think great roster but it's solid their schedule so weak it will help them i think be a playoff team i think with the baltimore ravens their roster so good the quarterback's so capable if jesse minter can coach they'll find a way to get into the playoffs if i have ben johnson and caleb williams and all those playmakers now we may not win thirteen games we may not win twelve but do i think we can win ten or eleven and make the playoffs yes again if you have the right head coach and quarterback in this league andy reid was winning super bowls when you had you know the afc had all these great quarterbacks in their prime and they were winning super bowls when the sec was dominating college football for years and years and years for twenty years you know even though they had the toughest schedules they were winning the natties the big ten's the best football conference they've won three straight natties metal on metal will sharpen and i so i think the bears in that conference in that division will come out battle tested i mean you and i know this the rams and the seahawks played each other what they play each other two times a year it just sharpens that coaching it sharpens your players at the

[Jason McIntyre]

other end of the spectrum for those interested the cleveland browns have the easiest schedule based on opponent win percentage and the new orleans saints are one of these sleeper teams some of the analytics i'm only now starting my like off season work but the saints are kind of sort of a team to watch yes if you believe in tyler schuck i don't totally but i like the etn pickup they had some nice moves

[Colin Cowherd]

in the offseason well i think the two teams that i look at i'm really interested with the falcons with kevin stefanski and good offensive weapons and the bengals with an offensive coach burrow in weapons really really light schedules so we have four teams minimum every year j mac that make the playoffs that didn't the previous year i think the two easiest bats would probably be bengals and falcons again if the quarterback play is okay i don't know in atlanta cincinnati to me feel if you start looking at their i went and looked at their schedule last night there's a lot of w's there there's a lot of home wins so schedule has always been a little undervalued yeah by the way

[Jason McIntyre]

is is zach taylor still coaching the bengals yeah he is okay i'm out on the bengals but one other final note colin real quick jets fans take note you see the indianapolis colts there okay no daniel jones probably for a while jets have the colts first round pick next year colin that could be as high as one it could be five it could be jeremiah smith keep an eye on those colts i'm rooting for failure all right let's go to the okc thunder nice win for them last night eliminating the lakers got a little lucky there at the end with the lakers missing a couple of good looks but okc gets a sweep there ain't no in the playoffs everybody's glazing them and now you got sga doing a little victory lap talking about his biggest challenge in the playoffs is the rust factor because they're going to be waiting so long for their next opponent here's a here's the audio that's been

[Colin Cowherd]

tough personally trying to battle the rust the rust has been taking its toll

[Donovan Mitchell]

on me but yeah stay in the

[Colin Cowherd]

gym trust the work it'll all even

[Jason McIntyre]

out whatever bro let's just be real he's not getting the calls did you see okc was getting no calls at all they were unhappy i mean they weren't getting to the free throw line okay the refs the book is out folks we know what they do they're the floppers they're now america's villains when it comes to the nba you got sga popping off i will say aj mitchell looked looked pretty damn good last night chet holmgren a big travel before his game winning dunk overall that was a fun game last night i know you're a little road weary after the

[Colin Cowherd]

after the late night you're better closer to one am but i listen say this when you lead a series three zero it's not it's not that easy to be energized they'd beaten the lakers before the game last night seven straight times four by blowout so the bottom line is lakers played with better energy to me in the first three quarters and then they had okc went on like a twenty two to seven run i think it was and then they're like okay guys and i and i think we forget this about really good teams it's hard to always be a favorite it's hard we don't see a lot of sweeps it's hard we always go they were they did they got you know how hard it is to sweep a team with that has even an old lebron it's hard missing their

[Jason McIntyre]

best player the leading scorer i mean hard what about the knicks how about my knicks you know those dogs the sixers who i think you picked in the series no big deal they show up for game four the whole lower bowl is knicks fans and those dogs are down twenty in the first quarter at least the lakers didn't roll over give them that they fought hard till

[Colin Cowherd]

the end i mean that was a

[Jason McIntyre]

great performance from the lakers yeah they

[Colin Cowherd]

lost but that's the standard now you're bragging about a great performance in a sweep congratulations missing your best player hey you and sean penn i saw sean penn was at the game and leonardo

[Jason McIntyre]

dicaprio front row final story colin let's go to cleveland how about my cavaliers you love the pistons well donovan mitchell decided to show up colin he was one of eight in the first half went into the locker room at halftime apologized to his teammates and cleveland opened the second half twenty three zero run donovan mitchell was unguardable in his bag look at these moves just clowning duncan robinson i mean what an embarrassment that they put duncan robinson on an all nba player donovan mitchell was awesome tied an nba record for most points and a half with thirty nine here's mitchell

[Donovan Mitchell]

afterward they're not really tripping on the fact that i started out one of whatever and i think that that's what also helps everybody let me know that i missed a free throw to break the record though i will say that but we're two and two headed to detroit that was when we came home to to do and that's all that

[Colin Cowherd]

matters still like the pistons but it

[Jason McIntyre]

was fun well it's interesting cade cunningham was really good at home down the stretch right excellent he looked like the best player on the court i don't know what happened in cleveland he is not good the last two games he was ten of twenty seven in game three and then last night it just a no show and then he tried to turn it on too late but kate had a bad game the best players on the floor last night james harden first half donovan mitchell second half and evan mobley was good he had five blocks colin i'm asking you straight up who are the four best players

[Colin Cowherd]

in this series cade cunningham's the best yes who are the next three donovan mitchell

[Jason McIntyre]

don't even say i'd like to

[Colin Cowherd]

i was gonna say i'd love to sneak tobias harrison i mean evan mobley gets he gets ripped by everybody he's

[Jason McIntyre]

pretty good and james harden i mean if the cavs stars show up they

[Colin Cowherd]

will win this series jaylen durant oh

[Jason McIntyre]

stop it give me a break mobley must have blocked him four times at the rim last night duran i mean are you going to max that guy detroit you got to max him out

[Colin Cowherd]

give me a break j mac the

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

news well that's the news and thanks for stopping by the heard lie news

[Colin Cowherd]

so a story came out yesterday usc and notre dame are talking again because notre dame came crawling back so folks life is about priority priorities life is about priorities what do you prioritize if you're a college football power a big dog priority number one now is get to the college football playoff don't look in the rear view mirror don't romanticize old rivalries michigan notre dame used to play every year they don't and usc has all the leverage usc is in the toughest football conference money is rolling at usc they don't need another cold weather game in october sandwiched between the buckeyes and the hoosier games penn state and oregon games they don't need it notre dame needs it because notre dame has discovered as the big ten has added oregon washington usc and as the sec has added texas and oklahoma they become super conferences and now because of nil even like vanderbilt and indiana are good so nobody wants to play notre dame notre dame's got texas on their schedule in a few years that's fluid doubt they'll ever play so pete bavak was the notre dame ad smart guy he has told people they are struggling to get new opponents big ten teams are like now we got to go to eugene and play the ducks we got to go to la and play the trojans we got to go to seattle and play washington on top of at michigan at ohio state no so usc had the leverage and told notre dame we'll play you we'll consider playing you maybe not every year but we'll continue the rivalry but it's going to be in september we're not going to sandwich you between two games that possibly have a blizzard or an la team and all the ex trojans and ex football players at notre dame in my day nobody cares absolutely nobody cares in college football today you can pay a high school recruit that used to be the death penalty nobody cares about the eighties nineties and early two thousands indiana just went sixteen zero nobody cares about your letterman jacket so if you look at notre dame schedule it is awful and it's awful because usc said we got the leverage you're playing when we want to play and pete bavaqua found out i mean look at this schedule i'll put it on the screen their big game is hosting miami after that it's embarrassing belichick's brutal north carolina team rebuilding michigan state wisconsin's a mess no idea what stanford is smu syracuse it's a mess if you put notre dame usc in that oh you got two biggies now you got one biggie and you got to host them so notre dame's pete bavaqua knows we need usc go look at usc schedule they don't need anybody so this is what has happened to college football this is why you're going to get an expanded playoff and notre dame wants an expanded sixteen to twenty four team playoff because the current twelve team playoff two of those teams are james madison tulane notre dame's guaranteed if they're ranked tenth with their schedule they are so you look at usc schedule you gotta be kidding me this is their weakest schedule in years oregon washington at penn state ohio state at indiana even ucla plays them tough so usc is like we're not gonna we're not gonna stick notre dame in october you're gonna play at our place you're gonna play when it's sunny out so we have you know we can surround you with some san jose states so and i'm not anti notre dame but all this you know when priorities change if i spend forty million dollars to build my football roster i want certain guarantees and all these boosters are given four million to usc and seven million and eight million and they're like we don't care about the rivalry get us to the playoff december now is far more important than october it's all about december and january i'm not anti rivalry i watch the iron bowl every year ohio state michigan's one of my favorite games of the year i'm not anti rivalry i am pro turn the page and prioritize what's really important the playoff is significantly more important than than usc notre dame playing annually it is today wasn't maybe three years ago it is today marcus freeman on what he'll miss with the rivalry for me it

[Marcus Freeman]

was the rivalry right it was not the implications of the game it was the the rivalry that no matter what your record is it means something when you win that game so when you you have arrival and you take the take it personal and you say hey we want to continue this game and this rival if we can but again it didn't work out for them and didn't work out for us but notre

[Colin Cowherd]

dame and their athletic director and they've said this privately to broadcast partners it's getting tougher to schedule games you can't blame lsu if they're like yeah well now we got texas a and m in the conference and oklahoma in the conference and texas money in the conference we don't want to add notre dame we're already playing alabama and texas and texas and you can't blame usc it's like now now indiana's a power and oregon and jet fish in washington and ohio state and we got michigan and wisconsin there and bad weather in october can always be tough i don't don't get into your feels on this stuff a lot of ex athletes you know they forget that the minute they leave there's other great athletes that go to their school that fans fall in love with right old athletes often fall in love with themselves fans fall in love with newer great athletes so nobody cares about what used to be they care about what is and what is in college football two things matter nil funding and getting to the playoff that is what matters i mean the fact that usc is still willing to play notre dame again that's a coin flip game notre dame's dominated in recent years the fact they're even willing to do it they just want to do it when the weather's nice maybe two out of three are in la maybe you play them every other year you get got to worry don't get into your feels about rivalries those i always say this about college football i love the sport there was a time that the worst thing you could do in college football was pay a high school player two days later with the nil it was marketed promoted and the only thing that ensured you were a top ten program paying high school players i mean just think about that it went from death penalty to you should do it now or you won't compete with ohio state that's how the sport has changed the worst thing you could do is now heavily promoted in a must to compete at the highest level so so you you you you're going to hold on to some rivalry that's not even an in conference rivalry if if you're going to play rivalry games ucla ucla and usc it may not feel as big that's the game you need to play every year that's the city championship that one that's an income for driver rate guarantees good weather it's actually a great rival it's right down the street that's the kind of rivalry you want to put your arms around michigan ohio state usc ucla alabama auburn not going out and playing notre dame and notre dame's had a chance to join big conferences i mean they'd be they'd be a perfect geologic geographical fit academic fit with the big ten they'd be a perfect fit they chose the acc a weaker conference and only partially joined not a lot of sympathy for me there in chicago it's the herd

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

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

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[Colin Cowherd]

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

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

volume podcast network colin the world cup

[Jason McIntyre]

is almost here it's just thirty days away with every match on fox and fs one the first match is june eleventh on fox when mexico takes on south africa then june twelfth on fox the us takes on paraguay in prime time out here in la cannot wait wait with the tournament just thirty thirty days away we got some odds for who's going to win it all france and spain are the current co favorites

[Colin Cowherd]

i'm taking england you see england in their eight world cup tuneups twenty two goals conceded none oh boy look at

[Jason McIntyre]

it somebody's doing some research i love

[Colin Cowherd]

it harry harry kane yes led the euros in scoring so this is a

[Jason McIntyre]

take england i just played in a men's soccer tournament over the weekend i got me a soccer jersey so i'm definitely pro england i have some money on the top two i don't see the us on the list for eyes

[Colin Cowherd]

well the us right now is infuriating because i'm not sure their manager and christian pulisic see eye to eye england's on a heater what do they do quarter last world cups quarter semis harry kane's healthy they they got everything solved in the nets keep your eye on england baby they haven't won their lone championship came in the mid sixties it's it's been a minute yes nineteen sixty

[Jason McIntyre]

six i i'll bet i'll bet the us to make the final four semifinals it's a long shot but they they don't scoff they're going to have a

[Colin Cowherd]

chance okay i'm going to go with england to win it all okay so aj debonta probably the number one pick it's interesting is that when wemby came to the spurs or ant of the t wolves or cooper flag to the dallas mavericks they were kind of the centerpiece of everything aj devonta is going to go to the wizards presumably and he's going to play with trey young who's hard to play with who takes twenty shots a game and can clog up the offense so aj debonza who is not a catch and shoot guy is going to get the ball late in the possession i'll give you an example i love tyrese maxey of philadelphia when he came into the league first couple of years he played with james harden james harden stunted his growth the minute james harden exited maxi averaged twenty six a game and was an all star never forget when trey young left atlanta who exploded jaylen johnson all star so dupont is a really good player what he's not is a catch and shoot guy the thing he has to work on is his shot he is a creator and an innovator he needs the ball in his hands a lot and you're not going to have the ball in your hands a lot with trey young who just clogs up an offense now trey young also doesn't play defense kind of hard to play with so debons is fascinating darren peterson has played debons a multiple times if you go back to like au and peterson's gotten the better of him but with peterson you worry about the cramps a little bit of a mental block with being healthy was a little inconsistent also peterson plays completely in a silo he doesn't elevate anybody else whereas devonta although he's a great score and creator can get others involved so it's interesting because people could say well james harden and trey young have a lot of assists don't conflate assist numbers with being fun to play with right that don't confuse somebody who gives a lot of gifts to being somebody you always want to hang out with right and so my take on washington and debonsa debonsa will get frustrated very quickly you know people look at people confuse great defense and steals that often means you're taking big risks and you're not in position you're not a good team defender you're just trying to get steals and dunks it's the same with assists james harden can dominate the ball give you the ball with two and a half on the shot clock you know and somebody hits a jumper and you're like oh it's great to play with trey young's hard to play with trey young's not a bad guy but he doesn't defend he shoots twenty nineteen twenty shots a game and he has the ball a lot so to me i mean think about this steph curry has led the nba in steals do you think he's an elite defender no he's a risk taker he's that corner going for the pick because he doesn't want you to back him down on the block right so he's trying to make he's trying to be aggressive and keep you out in the perimeter so i think the whole thing with the bonsen now i think he's the number one pick i would take him there's there's no downside to him i think he has a very high floor and even higher ceiling whereas with darren peterson i worry a little bit about the injury stuff and that he plays a bit in a silo he doesn't necessarily include others which is you know i don't love i like you know it's a very very good draft caleb wilson out of carolina is the most fascinating player he is so insanely long and springy that i can't take my eyes off him j i'm going to give you more time next hour j mac has got a little bit of a draft hot take you

[Jason McIntyre]

like peterson i like devonts a lot but i ran into someone connected to the nba at the gym yesterday and they were hyping peterson as a potential number one pick they told me go look at the youtube matchups from aau peterson ate his lunch this season head to head peterson got the best of them i mean like picked him clean scoring at will it's closer than i think a lot of us think just because debonsa was awesome this year yeah

[Colin Cowherd]

no i i i totally agree our two

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

proud partner of the volume podcast network this is an iheart podcast guaranteed human