THE HERD – HOUR 2 – Nick Wright: Pulisic Criticism Is Fair, LeBron Will Play 25 Seasons

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 2

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

Main Guests: Nick Wright, Jason McIntyre
Theme: Evaluating Christian Pulisic’s World Cup criticism, the U.S. Men’s National Team’s performance, and NBA superstars’ futures.

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers a robust and candid discussion on the United States’ World Cup exit, especially centering on Christian Pulisic’s underwhelming and injury-riddled showing. Colin and Nick defend the legitimacy of criticism leveled at Pulisic, compare U.S. media scrutiny to European soccer culture, and debate how the U.S. should build future soccer success. The conversation shifts to NBA trade drama with Jalen Brown, Paul George, and Giannis, and speculates on LeBron James’ next move—with Nick suggesting LeBron intends to play 25 NBA seasons. The show is peppered with soccer upsets (live-commented), perspectives on the state of American soccer, and a few NFL tidbits.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Is Criticism of Christian Pulisic Fair? (02:42–10:25)

• Colin’s Take:

  • U.S. soccer media is often quick to shield their stars from criticism, but Colin feels that's unwarranted. Casual fans have a right to judge poor performances.
  • Quote:

    "You don't need to be a chef to know when your fish is undercooked... Some of you soccer guys are nerds. Let's be honest about it. Last night Pulisic was a no show. He's fragile and he's getting hurt. Our goalie's an MLS guy. It doesn't take an expert." (03:12)

  • Pulisic only faces real criticism every four years, unlike stars like LeBron James or Caleb Williams who are scrutinized weekly.

• Nick Wright's Perspective:

  • Soccer stars in Europe deal with far more intense scrutiny and America treating Pulisic with “kid gloves” is patronizing.
  • Quote:

    "It would be insulting to be like, well, he tried really hard. Which, by the way, is not a full certainty here." (07:10)

  • Nick details Pulisic’s history of injuries and inability to deliver in big moments, stressing his lack of durability and leadership at crucial times.
  • Quote:

    "It is not harsh to say this was a massive... he failed to carry his burden the most. And it's not harsh to say that he seems to be fragile, that the injuries are a concern and the inability to play through pain is a concern." (09:46)

Notable Moment

• Pulisic rated only eighth best US player in his limited minutes; injuries consistently prevent him from playing full matches (09:35).

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2. Broader Context: How US Media & Fans Should React (10:25–16:58)

• Colin draws parallels with European coverage:

  • In places like Italy and England, the media is ruthless. Failing to deliver at the World Cup is treated as a “third apocalypse.”
  • U.S. expectations are growing along with skill level and interest, though the team is still “historically bad” at goalkeeper for the first time in decades.

• Nick Wright

  • Breaks down why this World Cup was a missed opportunity for the USMNT:
    • Ratings, interest, and infrastructure are up—a success for American soccer generally.
    • On-field, it's another round of 16 exit, just as in previous cycles.
  • Quote:

    “While it is not a failure... it is certainly a massive missed opportunity and it falls short of, for this team, a success.” (13:11)

Notable Moment

• USMNT immediately conceded after scoring to tie Belgium, showing mental fragility and lack of poise (13:40–14:20).

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3. Constructing a Path Forward for U.S. Soccer (15:51–17:08; 47:48–48:23)

• Nick's Proposed Model:
  • The U.S. can't (and shouldn't try to) go toe-to-toe depth-wise with France or Spain.
  • A more realistic strategy: build a solid team and hope for a single world-class breakout star (the “Erling Haaland path”).
• Colin agrees, noting that durability and consistent presence eliminate Pulisic from being that guy.

Notable Quote

• Nick Wright:

  “Our path forward is not to figure out a way to match France or Spain man for man. That shouldn't be the model... Our model is a slightly different one... Solid team. One super duper star.” (16:21, 47:48)

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4. NBA Trade Analysis: Brown, Paul George, & Giannis (17:08–20:23)

• Colin’s Take:
  • The new CBA makes team construction around two stars difficult unless they're truly complementary.
  • Jaylen Brown, despite talent, interferes with Tatum-centric analytics.
  • Quote:

    “It's a formula. And my takeaway five days later is Brown is an impediment to Tatum's usage rate.” (18:09)

• Nick Wright’s View:
  • He supports moving on from Brown if possible, but criticizes Boston for nearly landing Giannis, balking, then settling for Paul George.
  • Quote:

    "You can't be this close to closing on a house and then at the last minute they raise the price by $10,000 and walk away, if the alternative is living in your car." (19:07)

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5. LeBron James’ Future: The 25-Season Plan (20:23–24:19)

• Colin:
  • Doesn't want to see LeBron in a non-legacy jersey; thinks retirement is an option.
• Nick Wright:
  • Argues LeBron will play two more years, aiming for 25 seasons and possibly seeking one final title run with a new team.
  • Quote:

    “I believe LeBron's plan is to play 25 years, put in a smooth quarter century in the NBA and have that be that—that means wherever he goes, they're going to get two years out of him.” (23:21)

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6. Live World Cup Reactions & The Global Soccer Scene (24:19–35:46; 42:53–49:54)

• Soccer upsets real-time:
  • Live updates on Egypt vs. Argentina (Messi misses a penalty, then equalizes at 2-2).
• Broader World Cup Observations:
  • Parity and unpredictability: Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Italy all struggling—underscoring how difficult consistently winning is.
  • Discussion on controversial VAR calls, scarcity of games raising stakes and drama.

Notable Quote

• Colin Cowherd:

  “When something is infrequent and means a lot, it just almost begs for controversy. Every four years we have a presidential election... Every World Cup call is so important.” (42:53)

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7. USMNT Coaching & Youth Development (33:29–36:46)

• Pochettino’s Status:
  • Positive signs for the coach, credited with progress; panel wants him to stay for 2030 cycle.
  • The U.S. will need to recruit more dual nationals and develop deeper talent to really break through.
  • Jason McIntyre:

    “Pochettino is going to have to hit the recruiting trail similar to the transfer portal and get guys to commit if we want to make that leap by 2030.” (36:06)

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8. NFL Quick Hits (36:46–38:32)

• Top 100 NFL Players Reaction:
  • Disagreement with Travis Kelce (79th) & AJ Brown (80th) rankings.
• Sean Payton–Belichick Rumor:
  • Payton reportedly open to being Belichick’s assistant just so Bill could break the wins record. Colin finds it bizarre but trusts the reporting.

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9. Closing on Soccer’s Place in American Culture and the Youth Pipeline (50:01–end)

• Lessons from ’94 World Cup:
  • Hosting in 1994 birthed the MLS and an elite US run; current momentum is expected to pay off in 4–8 years.
• Soccer vs. Other Sports for Kids:
  • Colin argues soccer offers travel, education, and is a less violent pathway compared to football or UFC.
  • Quote:

    “If I could tell my kid to play one sport... he's going to travel the globe, play for a national team, potentially. Most of the great soccer programs are at elite academic institutions. Soccer is not a bad choice.” (50:32)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Colin Cowherd:

  “You don't need to be a chef to know when your fish is undercooked... Pulisic was a no show. He's fragile and he's getting hurt.” (03:12)
  “Pulisic gets criticized for a day every four years. Caleb Williams every Monday during the football season gets ripped if he doesn't complete 65% of his throws.” (04:30)

• Nick Wright:

  “It is not harsh to say this was a massive... he failed to carry his burden the most. And it’s not harsh to say that he seems to be fragile, that the injuries are a concern and the inability to play through pain is a concern.” (09:46)

• Colin Cowherd:

  "The World Cup has been a massive success for soccer in America. The ratings are insane... all of that is a huge, huge success. And it’s for the men's national team." (12:14)

• Nick Wright:

  “It is certainly a massive missed opportunity and it falls short of, for this team, a success.” (13:11)

• Colin Cowherd:

  "Jaylen Brown is an impediment to Tatum's usage rate. It doesn’t matter how good he is because he's really good." (18:09)

• Nick Wright:

  "Our path forward is ... solid roster ... and a Haaland-level, oh my god, where’d this guy come from, superstar. That’s the US’s path to seeing how deep we can go in a tournament." (16:21, 47:48)

• Nick Wright (LeBron’s future):

  "LeBron is too good to retire right now. He wants to keep playing. I believe LeBron's plan is to play 25 years..." (23:21)

• Jason McIntyre (youth pipeline):

  "My guess is the momentum around the World Cup right now will pay off in about four to eight years when all the young kids who are 8, 9, 10 are like captivated by the World Cup, I'm going, World Cup, Forget this NBA, NFL, I could be a global star." (50:10)

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Key Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Pulisic Criticism & US Soccer Culture: 02:42–10:25
• World Cup Context & European Media: 10:25–16:58
• Building America’s Path Forward: 15:51–17:08, 47:48–48:23
• NBA (Brown, Paul George, Giannis): 17:08–20:23
• LeBron’s Future in NBA: 20:23–24:19
• Live World Cup Score Updates / Tournament Parity: 24:19–35:46; 42:53–49:54
• USMNT Coaching & Youth Recruiting: 33:29–36:46
• NFL Player Rankings & Sean Payton’s Offer to Belichick: 36:46–38:32
• Soccer’s Place for U.S. Youth/Parental Perspectives: 50:01–end

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Conclusion

Hour 2 of The Herd offers a lively, layered exploration of the state of American soccer, the limits of U.S. sports fandom, and the inevitable scrutiny of our brightest stars. Distilled through candid takes from Colin Cowherd, Nick Wright, and Jason McIntyre, the show moves from sharp criticism of Christian Pulisic to new models for soccer success, NBA intrigue, and the evolving footprint of soccer in American culture.
If you missed the episode, this summary gives you everything but the thrill of real-time goals—or the sting of VAR. Watch out for the Nick Wright soccer jinx!

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

sponsored job credit to help get your job. The premium status it deserv@ Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Need to hire this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Welcome in hour two. So fired up to hear from Nick Wright. Listen. Soccer media and soccer fans can get very protective hey you casuals, slow down your criticism. You don't get it. As I've said before, you don't need to be a chef to know when your fish is undercooked. You don't. You don't need to be a music critic or 12 bong hits in to know Dark side of the Moon by Pink Floyd was epic. Okay, it's not that difficult. Some of you soccer guys are nerds. Let's be honest about it. It's like you watched last night. Pulisic was a no show. He's fragile and he's getting hurt. Our goalie's an MLS guy. It doesn't take an expert. I always said American Idol. I don't know squat about music. I could listen for 15 seconds. I was like, lounge singer hack. That person's gonna be a rock star. And I don't know anything. It was a bad performance on the back end. We knew it was our weakness. We totally got exposed. And everybody that says Pulisic, this criticism's unfair. Some New York Times writer was taking a shot at Nick Wright and I'm like, timeout. Pulisic gets criticized for a day every four years. Caleb Williams every Monday during the football season gets ripped if he doesn't complete 65% of his throws. LeBron James has had playoff games where he scores 29 points and has 12 assists. And he's getting clobbered by the media that he was afraid to take the big shot. Give me a break. Pulisic gets appropriately criticized for an hour and a half every four years. I mean, Carli Lloyd was awesome. She was critical last night of Pulisic.

[Nick Wright]

You wanted some of those big time players to step up in big moments. And I gotta be honest, you know, I was a bit disappointed with Christian Pulisic. I think whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn't see enough from him in this particular game.

[Colin Cowherd]

And really the whole World Cup Harry Kane. Jude Bellingham in Azteca. Took the game over Pulisic in Seattle. Apb. Where's he at? I mean, I couldn't find him. After losing his first several possessions, he, like, literally got timid and was bailing out of it. Like, I'm sorry. That's what. The eyes don't lie. It's not. You don't have to be a soccer expert to figure that stuff out. Your fish is undercooked. You have every right to say, send it back to the kitchen. I'd like to send Pulisic last night back to the kitchen. It wasn't good enough. Nick Wright now joining us live. Nick's getting attacked for having an opinion.

[Nick Wright]

I am.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Some guy. I am.

[Nick Wright]

I was unaware. Where am I getting attacked? I'm not even being funnier.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm very protective of you. So somebody at the. Some soccer guy was like, hey, slow down on Pulisic. And I said this, go to go, go. By the way, to Portugal, Spain, England, after they lose an English Premier League game in England. Forget the World Cup. The criticism from the tabloid press in Europe is, I'm gonna lose my mind.

[Nick Wright]

I'm gonna lose my mind. Colin, I didn't even know I was getting attacked. I don't even. That part.

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You.

[Jason McIntyre]

The.

[Nick Wright]

You're filling the role of my family now. Where, Pete? I come home, I'm in a good mood, and one of my kids says to me, he's like, oh, man, you are getting cooked on the Internet. I'm like, I. I didn't know. I was like, I. I walked down the street, everyone was nice to me. But, no, I want to talk because I want to talk about this, because it is patronizing to not. You know how you can tell we, us ugly Americans are taking this tournament and taking soccer seriously when the superstars, or in ballistics case, alleged superstars, get the superstar treatment.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[Nick Wright]

Because here is Here. Here. It would be insulting to be like, well, he tried really hard. Which, by the way, is. Is not a full certainty here. Here is Christian Pulisic since he's been the face of American soccer. A very quick history of it. Last year's World cup final group stage game. You must win to advance. Pulisic, to his credit, scores the goal against Iran to go up one nothing in the first half. He gets banged up on the goal, and then at halftime, can't play anymore. I'm out for the game. Listen, so be it. You got us the lead. We'll hold on for dear life. They did. Now let's flash forward couple years. Gold cup, new coach, big moment. Sorry, can't play, gotta rest. I, like every other high level European soccer playing star have played a bunch of minutes and I, I, I need to rest. Okay? You're going to skip out on the Gold cup to the dismay of Landon, Clint Dempsey, poor teammates. Fine. You better be in top form for the World cup if you're going to have the extra rest. He then enters the World cup on a not a goalless drought because he got one in the friendly against Senegal, but it scored one goal in the year 2026, the calendar year, that's the lead up to the World cup and then in the World Cup, a home World cup where he is supposed to be the best player on the best American team ever. He gave us one awesome half first half of the first game, but God forbid in that first half he got kicked in the calf and because of that he has to miss the second half of the first game. He has to sit for the entirety of the second game. He then after sitting, that is like, well, I obviously, you know, can't go the full 90 in the third game because I missed a game. Even though guys get rotated out and then play the full 90 all the time. Then in the knockout round game when we're down a man clinging to a lead and we have limited subs, he's one of the guys who has to come off. And then last night after playing a miserable first half, he kicked a guy in the foot and by his own explanation turned or sprained his ankle and asked out, bowed out. It that's unacceptable. And it's unacceptable when your best player, according to the the soccer rating Services was the eighth best player on his own team in the 49% of the minutes he was able to play in this tournament. It is not harsh to say this was a massive. Of all the players on the US Men's national team, he failed to carry his burden the most. And it's not harsh to say that he seems to be fragile, that the injuries are a concern and the inability to play through pain is a concern. That is all totally fair and totally in bounds. And I didn't even know people, I thought it was a mainstream opinion. The super hot take of the best players supposedly in the history of our country in this sport should have been better.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, especially when all the other great players, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Messi are playing spectacularly well and have separated in the highest scoring World cup in a long time. By the way, the staff just sent this to me, the front page editorial in the Gazzetta Deo sport, Italy's latest World cup failure was labeled third apocalypse by the Italian media. That's how you're treated in Europe when you don't deliver. Okay, okay. I will say this. I do think the passion, the revenue, the ratings, we earned ourselves another World cup sooner than we would have. I do think we love soccer. It may be every four years, but we love it. I also think we are more skilled. We were. We were, I would say, historically bad at goalie, considering Casey Keller, Tim Howard, Brad Friedel, Tony Mayola. We've been great. Our goalkeepers the one spot.

[Nick Wright]

We've been world class at 40 years and not this tournament. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Our guys played English Premier League for 15 years. We have had elite world goalkeepers. We got an MLS guy. He's a little slight. He's not aggressive. Our oldest player was a defender. We looked lost. We got beat in space size. Physically, they were just bigger and stronger, younger. I get it. Listen, we knew that was the issue coming in, but I said this last night. Are you happier that we got trounced and were ticked off or would it have been better to lose close and feel better about it this morning and feel we're closer even though we're not?

[Nick Wright]

Can I choose option C, that we just beat a Belgium team that was super beatable. I know they, I know they didn't last night. So here's how I kind of bifurcate this World cup in my brain.

[Jason McIntyre]

The.

[Nick Wright]

The World cup has been a massive success for soccer in America. The ratings are insane. If Fox is done, call me a company guy. I'm right on this. The production value, the way we are throwing the entire weight of the company behind the tournament. The last, the, the last time the US Played. Now, I understand time zones have something to do with it, but the last time the US Played a game as big as the game last night was in 2002 and it was at 2:30 in the morning on ESPN2. So, like, there is the way we are. It is 35 million people are going to have watched last night and tens of million are going to keep watching the rest of the tournament. All of that is a huge, huge success. And it's for the men's national team. However, while it is not a failure, a failure would have been losing to Bosnia or, God forbid, not getting out of the group.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[Nick Wright]

It is certainly a massive missed opportunity and it falls short of, for this team, a success. Yeah. Because we have been to the round of 16 many times. And not only aside from that O2 year when we got to play a team we were familiar with Mexico, we lost all those games, but we lost. We lost 1 oh to Brazil. We lost 1 oh to Germany. We lost 21 in extra time to Ghana. We lost 10 in extra time to Belgium. We lost 3 one last World cup in a hard fought game to Netherlands. So we didn't get further than the stage we'd been at. We played a team that, aside from the Ghana year, was probably weaker than any of the teams we played in this round prior. We were playing better and we got our. Not only did we get our doors kicked in humility, we seemed, yeah, the moment was too big from the very opening stage. And the most disappointing part of yesterday for me is this. Malik Tillman gave us a reprieve. We played so bad for a half hour, it was a miracle. We were only down one. And then Malik Tillman for the second time, this World cup just has a perfect direct kick. And now it's like, all right, new game, new ball game back in business. Gather yourself. And within 60 seconds we're losing again. And we never. And then still 30 minutes left in the game lately around the 60 minute mark. Okay, we're, we're down to one. We actually have steadied ourselves to start this second half. Pulisic goes down, can't decide whether or not he needs to come out. And then one of the most embarrassing moments in U.S. soccer history happens and bang, the game's over. It's frustrating because of this. Colin. Belgium's played five games this tournament. They drew against Egypt, they drew against Iran. They, they were thoroughly outplayed for 83 minutes against Senegal, then pulled it out of the fire, stole that one. There have been two games Belgium's looked awesome against New Zealand and US 51 and 4 1. That's a bummer. And there's no way around this. The tournament can be a success. While the end of the World cup for the US Men's national team is a huge bummer.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, I want two NBA things I want to talk about. And I, and I think I kind of feel like you, we underwhelmed. But I do think overall there's a lot to take from. We do have more skill. It's been an unbelievable moment. We'll continue to watch the ratings, the merch, the attendance. It's great. It was a clunker last night.

[Nick Wright]

Can I add one thing before we go to the NBA about the path forward? Because I don't our path forward is not to figure out a way to match France or Spain man for man. That shouldn't be the model. Our model is a slightly different one which is we'll see how far Norway goes. Croatia just came off back to back semifinals or further?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Nick Wright]

Morocco is off a semifinal. They're still alive. What's those countries path? You know what it is?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Solid team. One super duper star. Erling Holland carry us. Luka Modric carry us. Hakimi for Morocco. Carious. I think. I think it is more realistic that somehow we end up with an early Holland level star then we end up with this amazing 15 man roster. Solid roster. Pochettino is the coach or a coach of his caliber and a Holland level. Oh my God. Where this guy come from? Superstar. That's the US's path to seeing how deep we can go in a tournament. Go ahead.

[Colin Cowherd]

I. I agree by the way. And pulisic inability to be physically dependable eliminates him from that.

[Nick Wright]

Correct?

[Colin Cowherd]

That. That's right.

[Nick Wright]

Absolutely.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay. So two NBA things. You know I always say this. You and I are in the business. Something happens, we have to react. But almost always in politics. It could be wars, politics, sports, four, five, six days or four or five, six weeks. You get clarity. If it's pretty clear. It's pretty clear now that Paul George is expensive. Jaylen Brown was expensive. Now you can get out of Paul's contract earlier. There's not going to be any extension talk. This really came down to with the new cba. If you have two stars and they gobble up your cap, they have to be complimentary. I don't even think they always have to be best friends. Their games have to be complimentary. And for a franchise that is a mile deep in analytics, literally the Celtics do not lose. It's like the Globetriders against the Washington Generals. If Tatum has the ball 33% of the time, they don't lose. Brown's an impediment to that data. And this team, more than any team

[Nick Wright]

in the NBA loves the data.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's a formula. And my takeaway five days later is Brown is an impediment to Tatum's usage rate. It doesn't matter how good he is because he's really good. And that's the whole rap on the. On the trade.

[Nick Wright]

So here's where I understand what you're saying, but where I disagree with you or I'm going to. I don't even know if we disagree. I'm just going to further it. Yeah, I'M totally fine with the Celtics being like, we want to get out of the Jalen Brown business, that we think he is coming off his best season, that we think he is not as valuable as the media thinks he is. All these things here is what I'm not okay with. I'm not okay with the Celtics being this close to flipping Jalen Brown for Giannis and holding the line at whether it's Gonzalez or Baylor Shireman without realizing, wait, wait, wait. Our backup plan is Paul George and picks. Well, then I guess we got to pay the tax, right? You can't, Colin, you're. You're in the real estate business a bit. You can't be this close to closing on a house and then at the last minute they raise the price by 10 grand and walk away. If the alternative is living in your car, if you're like, well I'm I got another house down the road, it's no problem. But they the the Celtics, I think, Ms. Analyzed what Jalen Brown's market was outside of Milwaukee.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[Nick Wright]

Because if the bones of the trade are we get Giannis and give you two firsts and our best alternative is we get Paul George and get two first, then you got to pay the tax to finish the finish the deal with Giannis. That's like for them to walk away from that and not have a Trey Murphy package in their back pocket. Or hell, even a Houston, a similar trade that they got for Paul George. But make it with Houston, where Kevin Durant's coming back up there, plus the picks and Jalen's reunited with Ema. Any of that would have made more sense than the Paul George trade. That's my biggest complaint or critique of it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hollywood is good at perfect endings, but the NBA isn't Hollywood. It's hardwood and you end up wearing jerseys that look silly 10 years later. And Rich Paul saying, there's a frenzy for LeBron, but Oklahoma City, San Antonio and the Knicks don't want him and those are the three best teams. The reality is he's probably best to retire. Cleveland doesn't really work because it's ball initiators. It's Harden, it's donovan Mitchell, it's LeBron. It's the same issue with the Lakers with better rim protection with Alum and Mobley. The truth is I don't want to see him in a Pistons jersey. I don't want to see him in any other jersey. I want to see him in Cleveland or no jersey. Is that unfair that I just don't want to see him in a Raptors jersey, in a Pistons jersey.

[Nick Wright]

He's not going to be in a Raptors jersey.

[Colin Cowherd]

Want to see him in an old Heat jersey again?

[Nick Wright]

So listen, I think you're probably going to get your wish. I also think you love big markets and big stars, and so I think you would stomach him being in a Warriors jersey, which is, you know, I think you would. I also think you just flippantly saying his best option is to retire. Why? Why? Why?

[Colin Cowherd]

When.

[Nick Wright]

When he can still play. I would love to see when, how, how late we needed. Not only did you never think, I'm guessing, I checked the tape so you can tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing not only did you never think it was best for your beloved Tom Brady to retire, but you still kind of want him to unretire. Like you love him as a coworker. But I think you'd love it more like, you know, playing quarterback for literally anyone. Be like, hey, Tommy, see if you can give us a good 12 weeks and see what happens in the playoffs. So I, so I. LeBron is too good to retire right now. He wants to keep playing. And this is what I will say about wherever he goes. And it'll probably be Cleveland. I would say if I were the Cavs, I would be really trying to figure out if there is some type of James Harden plus pick, sign and trade to pry Kyrie Irving to Cleveland instead of Harden. That would maybe sweeten the pot for LeBron a bit. Just like the warriors should be trying to see now that the the Wizards got a guy who once upon a time replaced Anthony Davis and Deandre Ayton. If Anthony Davis is more available, LeBron for his basketball life has gone places where they've been in total disarray and within two years delivered a championship. He got to the heat in 2010. They had not won a playoff series since the title in 06. Two years later, they're champions. The Cavs, the second time around, had been out of the playoffs for four years. Two years later, they're champions. The Lakers had been the literally the worst team in basketball for the previous five years by a record standpoint. Two years later, they're champions. I believe LeBron's plan is to play 25 years, put in a smooth quarter century in the NBA and have that be that that means wherever he goes, they're going to get two years out of him. It's just my uneducated guess. And I think LeBron believes there's a bunch of Teams that he could go to right now. And by year two, he can walk out of the league of champion. I would like to see that happen. We'll see. But also, sub story of LeBron leaving the Lakers. My freedom, my yoke that I've been suffering under of a hijacked Laker fan has now ended. My watch has ended for eight years. Rob Binka, good luck building that team. Because when as, as has been the case since LeBron came into the league, where, where Brian goes, my fandom goes. So I'm a free agent too. I hope he picks a good spot, but I didn't love when he picked the Lakers, but I, you know what I mean? I'm. We're attached. So Philly would be my choice. I don't think it's going to happen. It's a nice little drive for me. I could see some games. It'll probably be Cleveland, but I think he's going to play two more years and I think he's going to pick a team he thinks he can win the title with by that second year.

[Colin Cowherd]

One minute left, Brazil. Your team is out. We have some footage.

[Nick Wright]

You just want to show a picture of me? You just want to show this picture of me? How about the whole reason you're asking about.

[Colin Cowherd]

How about backing the uk? Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham back the Brits.

[Nick Wright]

Listen, man, the people think that's not a flattering picture of me. I think I look resplendent. I think it is very. You know, here's the thing about Colin Cowherd. Colin Coward looks like the guy you're seeing right now at all times. I, I, I can, I, I can look like this version of Nick. This is kind of more gambling Nick. I can have the suit on Nick. And then I can also have watching, you know, my pick go down in flames, Hair tied back, sunglasses that don't work, ridiculous bucket hat that I bought from a stand here in Harlem hours before the game. It was a bad pick by me and I was in utter pain at that game. The moment, the moment that they missed that penalty kick, I was like, I think I'm on the wrong side. And I was. And now I immediately then just attached my support to Argentina because I'm a big, you know, you don't hear this a lot. I'm a big hemisphere guy. I didn't want to change hemisphere, so I, you know, I was in the southwestern hemisphere. Staying there. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Egypt's now up to nothing. On Argentina.

[Nick Wright]

It's two. I saw what they also missed a penalty kick to start this game, it's two nothing. Okay, well, on the. Okay, I, that's unbelievable.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'll just say the Nick Wright curse. But also, let me just say this. England hasn't won it in 60 plus years. Brazil's in a drought. Italy can't make the World Cup. For all of our angst today, Egypt up two nothing on Argentina. Meaning the only two favorites have looked the part. So far. England's looked apart. France has looked apart. Norway is surprising us. It is hard.

[Nick Wright]

Spain's kind of looked the part. Spain hasn't allowed a goal. Spain hasn't allowed a goal. They've, they've. Listen, I knew you'd be rooting for England. Your mom was English. You spent a lot of time over there. I, I, I get that.

[Colin Cowherd]

I can't.

[Nick Wright]

Argentina down to nothing. Holy moly. All right, I got to watch the end of this game.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, see you later, Colin. Okay, J. Mac, they overturned the goal.

[Jason McIntyre]

What? That is a travesty. Oh, my gosh. They're tasting taking the goal off the board. Colin, they're calling a foul. 100 yards from the play.

[Botox Advertisement]

Whoa.

[Jason McIntyre]

People are going to be outraged. That was a crazy play by Egypt. They want the length of the field for a crazy goal. They're calling a foul at the other end. Oh, my gosh. Oh, boy. Okay.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right.

[Jason McIntyre]

Soccer is getting crazy, by the way. You're right. Nick has a bit of a jinx. Holy hell. He says Argentina and like, instantly they're in trouble.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, boy. Guys, this is. Argentina is in a hole. Should be two nothing against Egypt. This is the global competitive nature of this sport. Everybody, all the big countries are, you know, they're 100 million in, 400 million in, 500 million in. They have massive leagues with international TV rights and international sponsorships and tournaments. It's all well capitalized. I mean, the English Premier League is so bloody rich, it's insane. Okay, be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartrade radio 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 sports book and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Let me tell you about something most people have never heard of and probably should have. It's called Burna and here's the part that got my attention. It's a real self defense option that's legal in all 50 states. No permit, no background check. It ships right to your door. It did mine. It's not a gun. That's the point. It's a launcher. Byrna burna.com herd b y r n a.com/heard Burna be ready.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Argentina a co favorite to win. It is getting drubbed and should be down 3 nothing to Egypt with the world's best player on their team and having a great tournament. By the way, the world's best player, Messi missed a penalty kick. Yeah, so just. Folks, Spain's got one. World cup stuff is hard. This is a. Honestly, this is a massive whiff by Argentina major. Their star missed a penalty kick. That is a no no. What do you think the headlines are tomorrow in Argentina? Hey, we gave it our best. And all you soccer nerds are upset because we're hammer and pooh Lisic who was a no show. J. Mac with a nerd

[Nick Wright]

turn on the news.

[Colin Cowherd]

Do you know the last repeat winner of the World cup was 1958 and 1962. Yeah, Argentina. I mean the pressure of winning the World cup, not, not to mention generally your. Your team that wins the World cup has most of its guys in its prime. You come back four years later, somebody's hurt. Your guys are old prime, out of their prime. Almost 70 NBA. We got eight champs in eight years. World Cup. It's virtually impossible. 70 years since we had a repeat.

[Jason McIntyre]

Extremely different. That's why this is the greatest sporting event face of the earth. It is amazing. And let's go back to Team usa. Colin, let's start with Pochettino. I don't know. You know, the Belgium coach cooked up some greatness yesterday with his lineup. I didn't see greatness from Pochettino, but afterward everybody was asking, hey, your future is up in the air. Your contract is set to expire. You have an offer on the table. Here's his response when asked about his future with the US national team.

[Nick Wright]

This team show that we can Play football, we can play soccer, we can compete, that we need keep improving.

[Colin Cowherd]

A lot of young players with a lot of potential and future and I think a generation of young kids that come in behind, I think we build a very good relationship. But now is not a moment to talk about that. I think now is a moment to

[Nick Wright]

see, to assess the tournament, you know, for sure in the next weeks we

[Jason McIntyre]

can start to talk.

[Colin Cowherd]

If the federation want to talk.

[Jason McIntyre]

Well, of course they want to talk. So everybody's making, you know, getting excited about what he accomplished, the wins, the non, you know, the getting out of the group stage, the amount of goals they scored, all records. Now we should add that they expanded the tournament around by an extra round and they let in some teams that, you know, maybe weren't great, were the host country. But besides all that, Colin, we look pretty good until we face Belgium, right? I think you gotta have Pochettino back.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Even our backups when we played 10 new starters against Turkey A and we were very competitive, I was encouraged greatly by that outing. Our backups, I thought, played really well. We showed great depth from our attacking and midfield units. So I, I even thought that loss was fine. I just thought we got overwhelmed last night and that happens all the time. The Patriots got overwhelmed in the Super Bowl.

[Jason McIntyre]

It happened.

[Colin Cowherd]

We. They just didn't have their best players, were not in their prime. Seattle was loaded. It happens. Argentina is getting whacked by Egypt. They're getting shut out. They. They should be down 3 nothing. When you watch the var on that, it is a pretty sketchy foul.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, it's hard to go back to back. One other thing, Colin. So naturally, when the, when you do the postmortem, right. So I'm trying to build out a database of all the young players, the best, like 16 to 20 year olds who could be on our team in 2030. And wouldn't you know it, but there's like three or four Flo Baligans out there where it's like, hey, he's a

[Colin Cowherd]

dual national, he could be goalies.

[Jason McIntyre]

There's one as a goalie, there's a couple defenders, a midfielder. Does he want to go play for Senegal or whatever or the US and one of them is a German and the US is going to have to recruit. Pochettino is going to have to hit the recruiting trail similar to the transfer portal and get guys to commit if we want to make that leap by 2030. So obviously soccer in this country, we love it. And the usa, they had a good run. Now we need to keep Pochettino. All right, let's pivot to the NFL, Colin. And this month, the NFL is doing their top 100 list. A couple players have fallen big time. A couple guys you love to talk about. A.J. brown and Travis Kelce plummet.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

Travis Kelsey, 79th, which I think might be generous.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's generous.

[Jason McIntyre]

A.J. brown checks in at 80.

[Colin Cowherd]

I think he's. I would say Kelsey's below 79. I think Brown's higher than 80.

[Jason McIntyre]

I would totally agree. I guess my, my question would be like, you know, what are we expecting from Kelsey this year? He just had the. The wedding with Taylor Swift.

[Colin Cowherd]

Be great on third down. At this point, I'm not looking for 104 catches. Be great on third down. Be good. Situationally red zone. And I think he will be. But that. That's where he is at his career.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Be. Be good in crucial spots. I'm not looking for you to play 17 games and I'm not looking for 120 catches. That's not what I'm looking for.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. And A.J. brown, of course, in New England. Now, A.J.

[Colin Cowherd]

brown, for the record, his numbers should. This is the best quarterback by far he's ever played with. I would not be surprised if AJ Brown didn't have 105 catches.

[Jason McIntyre]

So Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts or MVP runner up Drake May.

[Colin Cowherd]

Drake May is a much better pocket quarterback and they're going to direct that offense. Jaylen Brown's going to be. They like their backs, they like their tight ends. They will love A.J.

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brown.

[Jason McIntyre]

Final story. Colin. This is a little bit of a wacky one, but Sean Payton, there's a story out from Seth Wickersham, who's a great journalist, obviously, and Sean Payton, according to this report, was like friendly with Belichick, really liked him a lot and said, you know what? After Belichick left the Patriots, I was open to him coming to be the head coach in Denver. I would be the assistant just so Bill could win 15 more games and be the all time winningest coach in NFL history. I would be the assistant, run the offense. Bill would be the head coach just so he could get the record. A, do we buy this? And B, can you text Sean after the show and be like, bro, is this for real?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I. If Seth wrote it and reported it, I believe it. It's too complicated and weird. That's. I mean, let's not play with history. If it happens authentically, organically. I don't think you play with history. That's like, that's like you know Mark Gastono being upset because Michael Strahan got the sack record because Brett Favre took a knee like like just let stuff happen organically. That always feels better. 100J Mac with the news well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the herd lie news. I will question the word frenzy coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. Here's something I've thought about more as I've gotten older. Keeping my family safe, not living in fear, just being prepared. It's why I use Burna. They make self defense tools that actually work and they're built right here in America. Fort Wayne, Indiana hand assembled burner is trusted by the pros. Over 500 government agencies, police departments and private security firms use. Byrna burna.com herd b y r n a.com herd burna be ready.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Indeed Advertisement]

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[Colin Cowherd]

The, you know, part of the controversy around Baligan and this Argentina VAR ruling Argentina, by the way, has scored its two on Egypt. 10 minutes left. Is that when something is infrequent and means a lot, it just almost begs for controversy. I mean, every four years we have a presidential election. Increasingly, this is all you hear. It's rigged. The presidential election is rigged. You don't do that for the average mayoral race. It doesn't mean as much. Right. And so your average, you know, we look at the World cup, every call is so important. Not necessarily in the group stage, there's not as much controversy. I mean, in the group stage you didn't have all this drama. You get to the knockout stage. I mean, like every game, all we're talking about is Baligan and the VAR and that red card and that yellow card because it just. There's so much scarcity here. There's just not many games and the games mean so much. So, you know, my take is we are just not used to not owning stuff and being dominant with stuff. And Argentina finding out today, that's why the England win over Mexico is so newsworthy and redeemable. It that's Mexico doesn't lose it as taca. That was such a courageous win by England for Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane to play at that level. They were clearly the two best players. But it's so hard to win there and in that environment. By the way, Canada's out, Mexico's out, and we're out. Home soil advantage. Home pitch advantage has a ceiling. Great teams win. By the way, Rich Paul is the agent. Clutch Sports for LeBron James. I saw one of the quotes here. Teams involved in the LeBron sweepstakes, according to Brian Windhurst, are being kept in the dark, and it's sending suitors into a frenzy. I don't feel it. I don't feel like it's a frenzy. I think if he goes to Cleveland, people will freak out. But it's Cleveland, right? They haven't had a lot of success unless LeBron's created it. But San Antonio OKC are not interested in LeBron. The Knicks just won the title. Second, third, or first best team. They're not interested.

[Nick Wright]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Like, so I look around the league and I'm like, cleveland is. It's Cleveland. I also think LeBron at this point is an additive now, not foundational. He'll make you better. He's not going to make you great. You're not going to get 82 games. You're not getting that defense. And he plays in spurts more than he ever has. That's fine. He's still very, very good. But LeBron's agent has a podcast. He can control messaging, the whiteboard. He's very good at it, by the way. Podcasting and agencing. So here's Rich Paul on why he created the whiteboard, by the way.

[Jason McIntyre]

I wanted to just give people, it's, like, insight and a little peek behind the curtain.

[Nick Wright]

And here's the thing.

[Colin Cowherd]

In.

[Nick Wright]

In times like this, it's actually pretty

[Jason McIntyre]

cool because you can't take yourself too serious in this time. This is a. This is a fun time for us. Can imagine, right?

[Nick Wright]

It's a fun time for us.

[Jason McIntyre]

It's an admiration for lj.

[Nick Wright]

You know, you're gonna always have the haters out there, like those that we

[Jason McIntyre]

know that have a microphone. That's never said anything great about lj or me, for that matter, but I can care less.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I just. There's. There's no frenzy here. I think if he goes to Cleveland, that's the prediction. Or Golden State. I mean, Golden State for a couple days would get a lot of discussion, but I think the best teams are not interested. And I don't think he'd make the warriors or the Cavaliers champions. He's an additive. He's not foundational at this point. Messi just tied it up at two. He has a goal and an assist in five minutes. Eight goals in the tournament. And you're upset that we're criticizing Pulisic who just can't finish a game.

[Jason McIntyre]

I mean Colin, we saw Jude Bellingham take over a game in Aztec on the road. We're not saying Pulisic is Bellingham, but we're now seeing Messi scoring the equalizer in like the 88th minute. Argentina's on the ropes. Messi just takes over the game. Like all we're asking Pulisic is to freaking not turn the ball over.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're asking Pulisic to finish games.

[Jason McIntyre]

Finish games will be nice.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're not even asking for, we're not even asking for goals. We're just asking for playmaking and finish the game.

[Jason McIntyre]

I mean Pulisic played a great half against Paraguay and then he really didn't do much the rest of the World cup. And I know, well, J Mac, why are you putting him on the same tier as Messi and Bellingham? They're legends. All right, well you're the Captain America. You're the face of our team. Yeah, weren't we calling him this a golden boy like eight years ago?

[Colin Cowherd]

Here's, here's Nick Wright earlier on the US team's loss to Belgium last night, humiliating as it was.

[Nick Wright]

We'll see how far Norway goes. Croatia just came off back to back. Semifinals or further? Morocco is off a semifinal. They're still alive. What's those countries path? You know what it is? Solid team one super duper star. Erling Holland carry us. Luka Modric carry us. Hakimi from Morocco carry us. I think, I think it is more realistic that somehow we end up with an Erling Holland level star then we end up with this amazing 15 man roster.

[Colin Cowherd]

I think that's really an interesting way. And remember, people say our best athletes don't play soccer. They don't need to. We're so much bigger than Norway. We're so much bigger than Belgium. If our third best athletes chose soccer, which maybe now it's fourth, we still feel the competitive team. We got to the knockout stage, we won a game, you know, so we're competitive, we're just not elite. Messi, eight goals in five matches. Nobody's asking him to be messy again. Be available and don't disappear in the biggest game in US world soccer history. That's all we're, that's not a bridge too far. We're not asking you to dominate. But he was overwhelmed last night. And kind of vanished and got very timid. And again, you know, it's always, I'm always cautious to say somebody's injury prone. I want to see like Joe Burrow is one of those where ask yourself this. If you suffered one more major injury with the organization, have to consider another plan. If Joe Burrow did, the answer is yes, Joe's had enough. Now if you had one more serious injury, you got to draft another quarterback. If Pulisic had another serious injury for his club team next year, you'd have to. You ask yourself he simply can't stay healthy. And that durability. Messi's never missed a World cup game. I mean, not a gigantic athlete. He's small, he's 5 7, 155 pounds or whatever he is. He doesn't miss games. So he is durable. It's not always. You don't have to look like Erling Haaland or Ronaldo. You don't have to look like that. It helps.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, Gronk had injuries, but size and body composition is obviously important. But it is a reality with Pulisic.

[Jason McIntyre]

So remember the World cup when it was here in 94, birthed the MLS and by the way, eight years later, we had our best run to the quarterfinals.

[Nick Wright]

Yes.

[Jason McIntyre]

My guess is the momentum around the World cup right now will pay off in about four to eight years when all the young kids who are 8, 9, 10 are like captivated by the World Cup, I'm going, world Cup, Forget this NBA, NFL, I could be a global freaking star.

[Nick Wright]

Right?

[Jason McIntyre]

You're seeing these watch parties around the world. It's like this is real fandom.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, if I could tell my kid to play one sport, you know, football, there's a regular level of violence. Same with ufc. Probably wouldn't be that my kids, I mean, if I could say my kid's going to play something, he's going to go to an elite university because elite universities have good soccer programs and then he's going to travel the globe. It's pretty cool. If you're asking me as a dad, my kid can travel the globe, play for a national team, potentially. Most of the great soccer programs are at elite academic institutions. Soccer is not a bad choice. The official language of football is trash talk, late night group chats, memes and unbelievable highlight clips. That's why Boost Mobile brings you our new global connection plan, the first plan ever made for WhatsApp. Get unlimited data, talk and text, international roaming and calls to over 100 countries for just, just $40 a month $40 price includes five dollar a month auto pay discount after 40 gigabytes of premium high speed data speeds will be lowered. Coverage not available everywhere. Visit Store or BoostMobile.com for details. Every goal starts with insist. As Official partners of U.S. soccer, this team is ready to deliver Sensodyne Dentist recommended Defense of your sensitive teeth Centrum Fueling your day with science backed nutrients. Advil of course. Powerful inflammation fighting pain relief Voltaren Arthritis Gel helps penetrate deep, keeps the joints moving and tums ready to counterattack with fast heartburn relief. Learn how Halion can assist your game day [e-mail] calm make your game day legendary with MGM Rewards. From unforgettable tailgate and viewing parties to world class dining, thrilling nightlife and entertainment that keeps energy going long after the final whistle, this is where fans come to celebrate, show off your team spirit, cheer with friends and earn rewards on every experience you love. Because every play is bigger and every moment feels unforgettable in Las Vegas. So what are you waiting for? Make your game day legendary with MGM Rewards. Visit mgmrewards.com for details. Hi, it's Colin Coward. If you want your outdoor space to really stand out, Deckorator surestone technology is where you should start. Decking with surestone technology is made through a patented process that uses crushed rock, not wood fiber like other composites, which gives every board incredible strength and durability. And it's engineered with a unique surface design for better traction when things get wet. It's comfortable, it's safe, it's durable, and that just looks great too. Build season is coming fast, so order a sample today. Visit deckorators.com herd to get your free sample. That's decorators with A K Again decorators.com herd this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.