THE HERD- HOUR 3- Chris Broussard stops by the show

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 3 (April 6, 2026)

Main Theme / Purpose:
This episode focuses on current and breaking news in the basketball world, specifically Mike Malone’s surprising hire as North Carolina’s head coach, the state of the Lakers and their roster challenges, controversies around LeBron’s Memphis comments, playoff experience questions for young NBA teams, the significance of rising domestic basketball stars, and various memorable moments in recent sports.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mike Malone Hired as North Carolina Tar Heels Head Coach

• Breaking News: Mike Malone leaves the NBA for UNC head coaching role, surprising many as Billy Donovan was widely considered the frontrunner.
• Discussion on Coaching Trends:
  • Colin Cowherd notes NBA coaching is trending younger, but college coaching is now heavily transactional with NIL and transfer portal influence.

    “I'm not doing groveling to high schoolers. That's off the table. Now... I go buy guys.” – Colin Cowherd (05:00)

  • Chris Broussard approves of the hire, citing Malone’s mix of toughness and professionalism.

    “He’s a tough, hard-nosed coach which does work in college. But he also knows... he’s dealt with professional players.” (11:36)

• Recruitment Edge: John Mittlekoff emphasizes Malone’s NBA pedigree—a boon for recruiting:

  “He goes ‘I coached a guy that won a bunch of MVPs... Recruiting actually could come easy to him.’” (05:26)

2. Joe Adell’s Historic Night for the Angels

• Baseball First: Joe Adell robs three home runs in one MLB game—a feat never before achieved.

  “He went into the crowd and just robbed his third home run. You will never see this happen again.”
  – Sports Commentator, replayed by Cowherd (06:58)

• Rules Clarification:

  “It says here a fielder may legally catch a fly ball and fall into the stands.” (07:32)
  Discussion follows about historic robberies and the nuances of MLB's outfield wall rules.

3. NBA – Lakers Roster Challenges and Coaching Critiques

• JJ Redick Criticism:
  • Heavy minutes for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves cause controversy.
  • Cowherd directs blame toward roster construction rather than Redick’s management:

    “That's not JJ Redick's problem, that's the reality... They have no bench. It's an atrocious bench.” (12:31)

• Chris Broussard’s Defense:

  “If you blame anybody, you put a little on JJ if you want. But the main blame should go on the Lakers training staff.” (13:40)
  He highlights how comeback-heavy NBA games justify playing starters, adding that rotations are also a function of poor bench depth.

4. LeBron and the Memphis Controversy

• Public Backlash: LeBron receives criticism for dismissing Memphis as an undesirable NBA stop.

  “People have complained that LeBron is too rehearsed, and then he’s finally authentic and he gets crushed for it.” – Cowherd (15:26)

• Broussard’s Perspective:

  “There’s not an ounce of his being that meant it this way… but the optics didn’t look good. Right. He’s on the golf course with a bunch of white guys... talking about this majority black city...” (17:35)
  Broussard vouches for LeBron’s character and intent, but acknowledges perception issues.

5. Playoff Experience and Youth in the NBA

• San Antonio (Wembanyama) & Lack of Playoff Experience:
  • Cowherd and Broussard discuss the Spurs’ inexperience as a concern against veteran teams.

    “That’s where you see the experience of the Denver Nuggets versus... the naivety... of the Spurs. And it showed up late in that game.” – Broussard (18:54) “Wembanyama is something we’ve just never seen before. So to a degree, you gotta throw a little bit of conventional wisdom out the window.” (19:38)

6. Lakers’ Roster Reality Check After Blowout Loss

• Organizational Wake-Up Call:

  “That's the kind of game you look at if you're a new owner and go, guys, we're five players away. You know, we can't be paying LeBron big money.” – Cowherd (20:35)

• Broussard on the Lakers’ Future:

  “They need... athletes, defenders, shooters to play and maximize alongside Luka Doncic...” (21:51)
  He details how the Lakers cannot match up with deep, energetic teams and must rethink roster building.

7. The Importance of Domestic NBA Talent & Cooper Flagg's Rise

• Flagg as the Next American Star:

  "It’s very important... I would love to see a white American superstar in the NBA... Cooper Flagg is a great white American player and he is going to be a superstar." – Broussard (24:17)

• Cowherd Praises Flagg’s Intensity:

  “Cooper is... he's got the feistiness of, you know, like an MJ or a bird. Like, like he, he is a brawler. He'll go right at you and I like that quality…” (25:53)

• Debate: Flagg vs. Luka:
  Broussard prefers building around Flagg, citing his defensive effort and teamwork over Doncic’s ball dominance.

8. Short Takes & Other Sports News

• UFL Game Highlight: Dramatic 50-yard game-winning field goal for Houston Gamblers.
• Chicago Bulls Shakeup: Team fires GM and basketball operations head, signaling franchise reset.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Dan Hurley’s UConn Success:

  “This is not the most talented UConn team... but he’s just sort of blown away by what the coach Dan Hurley has produced.” – Cowherd (01:24)

• Adell’s Triple Robbery:

  “You will never see this happen again. This is what, once in a hundred years kind of stuff from Joe Adell.” – Sports Commentator (06:58)

• On Memphs’ Reputation Among NBA Players:

  “There was a viral clip... of 20 NBA guys complaining about Memphis.” – Cowherd (16:03)

• On LeBron’s Public Image:

  “People have complained that LeBron is too rehearsed, and then he’s finally authentic and he gets crushed for it.” – Cowherd (15:26)

• On Cooper Flagg:

  “He is going to be a superstar. And so that's great to see. I think it's just good for the league.” – Broussard (24:17)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Mike Malone UNC Hire Announced: 04:11 – 06:31
• Joe Adell’s Historic MLB Game & Rule Discussion: 06:31 – 08:49
• UFL Finish Recap: 09:13 – 10:08
• Chris Broussard Joins – Malone/UNC Reaction: 11:04 – 12:31
• JJ Redick, Lakers’ Rotation Debate: 12:31 – 15:26
• LeBron’s Memphis Comment Controversy: 15:26 – 17:59
• Wembanyama/Experience in Playoffs Debated: 17:59 – 20:35
• Lakers' Roster Limitations and Offseason Needs: 20:35 – 23:26
• Rise of Cooper Flagg & Domestic NBA Talent: 23:26 – 26:36
• Closing: Bulls Organization Reset: 30:32 – 34:49

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Tone & Style Notes

This episode blends Cowherd’s characteristically frank, quick-shifting style with Broussard’s analytical and experienced broadcast tone. Both are opinionated yet measured, delving into nuance around basketball news, roster construction, and league culture.

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Summary prepared for listeners who want the insights, context, and colorful commentary from this fast-paced, topical hour of The Herd.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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On the Serving Pancakes podcast, conversations about volleyball go beyond the court. Today we have a little best friend compatibility test. Okay, and how long have we been best friends?

[Chris Broussard]

Since the day we met.

[Podcast Host]

As the League1 volleyball season heads towards its final stretch, there's no better time to tune in. You'll hear unfiltered analysis, behind the scenes stories and conversations with leaders making an impact across the sport. Whether you're following the final push of love season or just love the game, Serving Pancakes brings you closer to the action and the people shaping the future of volleyball. Open your free iHeartradio app search serving Pancakes and listen. Now Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

[Marine Corps Narrator]

The fight for our future starts with belief in our nation and its promise in our future and its potential. Together, we answer America's call to win. We are Marines. We were made for this.

[Colin Cowherd]

This, this is not the most talented UConn team, but he's just sort of blown away by what the coach Dan Hurley has produced.

[Sports Analyst]

I think this is probably the least talented of all those UConn teams, but I think we really got to step back and just acknowledge what Dan Hurley's been able to do there. I mean, he's on the brink of kind of a modern day version. And I'd never, ever compare anybody to what, you know, Coach Wooden did at ucla, but I mean, this is amazing what they've been able to do and done it with three different teams. Essentially. This wasn't a carryover. They didn't have like Kareem for four years in a row.

[Colin Cowherd]

Also, Mark had a unique experience where he played Michigan earlier in the year. And I mean, over the last 30 years, Gonzaga loses, they don't get their doors blown off. And that's what I noticed early in the year. I follow Gonzaga. I was like, how good is Michigan? And Mark talked about that game and what Michigan brings to the table.

[Sports Analyst]

They are the real deal after you watch film. I mean, they are extremely well coached they are big, they are physical, they can beat you inside, they can beat you outside. The last thing that stood out, Colin, especially watching it live there, was just how handsy they were on defense and the pressure defense and how they can switch everything and just a really, really well connected team.

[Colin Cowherd]

No question. I like Michigan tonight. I think a lot of people think they're going to blow them out. I don't. Listen, UConn last couple of games has shot the three. Well, if they revert back to what they can be, which is a little clunky from the perimeter, they're in trouble. But, you know, Miles Simon was the most outstanding player back in 97 and won this thing. And he. He really gave Dan Hurley, the culture center at UConn a lot of credit.

[Sports Analyst/Commentator]

They just go with their eye test and then they find out about the individual and the kid.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Sports Analyst/Commentator]

And can he fit into what we do? Like, is he tough? Does he play hard? Can he take hard coaching? I was telling the people I was sitting next to on. On Saturday night, look at how they respond to him. Over, over again. Like, it's really, really cool to see.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. So I can't wait tonight, Michigan. What are we doing? Michigan 7773. Something like that is what it feels like to me. Here's John Midkoff with the news.

[News Anchor]

No, no, no.

[Chris Broussard]

Heard on the news.

[News Anchor]

This is the Herd line news.

[John Mittlekoff]

Well, let's start with some breaking news, Colin. The North Carolina Tar Heels have a coach. Mike Malone is. Is headed to Chapel Hill. So comes a little bit out of left field with the name not being mentioned. We were talking Billy Donovan earlier is some connection. Malone's daughter, she's a sophomore on the volleyball team at unc. You know, they hired Belichick a year ago, so like you said, it's become more transactional. It's a. It's an easier transition for these guys that are used to paying players to come play for them. I like Mike Malone. I thought he got a raw deal in Sacramento a long time ago. Yeah, he can remember he got fired at the end of the season in Denver, like, with like, three games remaining. Yeah. Had some weird. I think he's pretty good coach.

[Chris Broussard]

This.

[John Mittlekoff]

This actually feels less crazy than when they hired Belichick.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, the NBA coaching's getting younger. And college coaching, I mean, when you talk to colleges, when you talk to, like, pro coaches about college, they're always like, I'm not doing groveling to high schoolers. That's off the table. Now, there may be one guy in your Region, you got to take a private jet down to have a nice dinner, you know, in LA or Chicago or some, you know, Dallas. But by and large, you know, boosters, hey, what's my budget? I'm going to go buy guys. That's what it is.

[John Mittlekoff]

Well, think about this Colin, he's going to have a pretty easy sell. He goes, I coached a guy that won a bunch of MVPs. He's one of the best players of all time for a decade. Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon. Colin, he was an assistant coach on some of the early Steph Curry teams with Mark Jackson. So he's been around some of the most famous players in the NBA over the last 20 plus years. Recruiting actually could come easy to him. You want to play in the NBA? I know what it takes to win a championship. So yeah, I kind of like to hire, to be honest with you. Same to baseball, where we had some history the other night with Angels right fielder Joe Adell made not one, not two, but three home run robberies against the Mariner Mariners. A major league baseball first. Colin, since 1995, there have been 70,000 games played. And Saturday's Angels game was the only one to feature three home run robberies between both teams, let alone one guy doing all three. It's, that's the Angels, right? Trout's always hurt. Ohtani goes to the Dodgers.

[Colin Cowherd]

I didn't watch the game live. So when you, the third one, when he caught the ball and dumped into the, into the crowd, you've, I guess gotta just, I mean he could have dropped it, right? You don't really know. I guess you just, I mean the fans obviously are gonna act as if I, I don't. What, what is the rule on that? I always thought if you went into the. Over the wall, it's a home run.

[John Mittlekoff]

Well, let's, let's take a look at the home run.

[Colin Cowherd]

Been incredible tonight.

[Sports Commentator]

Behind the plate with the challenges JP Crawford into the corner and Adele. There's no way, there's no way. Joe Adele is having the night of his life. He went into the crowd and just robbed his third home run. You will never see this happen again. This is what, once in a hundred years kind of stuff from Joe Adell.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I mean it's a game saving catch. I, I don't know why I thought that if you went over the wall, it's over, bro. Look at that shot. That's one of the great pictures of the year. It says here a fielder may legally catch a fly ball and fall into the stands. I guess it is because I've seen guys do it on the third baseline.

[John Mittlekoff]

Deters historically.

[Colin Cowherd]

You're right, you're right.

[John Mittlekoff]

You know, it's cool to watch guys like Griffey to climb the wall. I am a sucker for kind of the short wall, you know, the Jeter moment. But that happened in the field of play. But you know, in Boston they have. I think it's in. Is in right field that's much smaller.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, you have to fly over what you have to do. It's pretty obvious. Thinking of Jeter, you've got to make the catch inside the wall. If you fall into the wall. And so the ruling there is he caught it on the, you know, on the side. So yeah, you see it. But you know, you got to. When you lose the. You can't see what's happening there. I mean he could have bobbled it, it didn't matter. He could have dropped it. I mean he sold it. So I'm not saying he did. But I guess if you catch it initially we can see the catch. You're on this side, your body is. Then you can fly. Because I. You're right. We've seen Jeter do it. We've seen great players do it. On the third baseline it looks like

[John Mittlekoff]

he got a little lucky because usually when you're you going over there's a fan there trying to catch the ball as well. It looked like there was an open seat so he didn't have to, you know, cuz the fans. First reaction. I've. Listen, I've been to a lot of baseball games in my life is kind of to reach out even though you don't want to do that. And he got open space. I mean what, what a catch. What a great moment for a franchise that's fallen on some hard times.

[Colin Cowherd]

Crazy.

[John Mittlekoff]

Okay to the UFL where we had a great finish yesterday between the Birmingham Stalling Stallions and the Houston Gamblers. Down two in the final seconds. Crazy play here. Kind of reminiscent of Bills Broncos game. Down two in the final seconds. The gamblers completed a tough fourth and 16 which set up this game winning field goal to win the game.

[Sports Commentator]

And here we go with two seconds to go, John Hoyland from 50 for the win. Happy Easter, Gamblers. You couldn't have scripted a better comeback. Hoyland goes a perfect 5 for 5 and he caps the evening off with a 50 yard strike for the win.

[Colin Cowherd]

Everybody can kick field goals. Should be noted our diligent staff. Greg Tuohy was at the Angels game and saw it live. Now My take, Tuohy's our biggest baseball diet. He's our seam head on the staff. And so I imagine Tuohy, you know, he knew everything.

[John Mittlekoff]

Yeah, he's got Adele's minor league statistics in his back pocket.

[Colin Cowherd]

So Greg, did you know initially? So if you catch it on, if you make the catch and we can see you, you can fall into the crowd. Did you know that? Okay, tuohy's got like 13 kids in little League right now. I mean he, he's, he's literally fielding, he's fielding like the Savannah Bananas at his house. He's got like six teams. So that is awesome. Way to go. Tuohy the man on the spot. That's great. John Mittlekoff with the news.

[News Anchor]

Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the Herd lie news.

[Colin Cowherd]

Chris Broussard now co host. First Things first is joining us live. We appreciate that. A busy guy. First of all, Mike Malone gets hired. Are you surprised he's the New Carolina guy? My first choice would have been Billy Donovan. I think he's a competitive guy and the Bulls don't feel as serious as Billy Donovan wants them to be. Are you surprised by the Malone hire?

[Chris Broussard]

Yeah, first of all, I'm with you on Donovan. I thought he would have been the first choice for me because he's done it in college. Right. We've seen him do it at that level. He was okay in the NBA. Not a ton of success, but he certainly was successful in college. But Mike Malone is I think a great choice. He's a guy. I've known Collins since he was an assistant with the New York Knicks under Jeff Van Gundy. So we go way back. He's obviously got a ton of experience with pro players. And look, he's a tough, hard nosed coach which does work in college. But he also knows, you know, he's dealt with professional players. So I know college now with nil with the transfer portal with guys making money, he can handle that. He's used to, you know, coaching guys that make a lot of money and so he'll be fine with that in college. So he's a coach in Lifer. His dad was a long time coach in the NBA. Assistant coach. So I think he's a great hire and you know, I think it was a good choice by them.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, so J.J. redick got a lot of heat because he's played Luka massive minutes. I would argue Luka's style is ball centric. So his usage rate's through the roof. That's not JJ Redick's problem, that's the reality. Secondly, you have to play Austin Reaves. There's a fascinating stat that the Knicks and the Lakers have the same record, but New York's point differential is 400 times better. Meaning the Lakers, even against average teams, they have to play starters. They have no bench. It's an atrocious bench. So I don't blame JJ Redick. I think it's remarkable. With no bench and no three point shooters, they were a third seed in the West. I think it's unbelievable. Where do you land on the. I can't believe. I can't believe he's playing these guys in a blowout and they're getting banged up.

[Chris Broussard]

Well, first, I agree. I think JJ's done a great job. And a few. About a month or two ago I challenged him because their defense was atrocious. And I said, look, in the NBA, yes, you need athletes and all that to be elite defensively. But if you just get guys to communicate, to buy in, play hard and play team defense and be in their right assignment, then you can be solid defensively. And I challenge that. And soon enough he went out there and got it done. Remember, they were playing great defense in their little 15 and two run. And he has a lot of gimmicks, a little defense, little matchup zone here. He fools offenses at times by switching up a lot of things. So I think he's done a great job this year and I get where people are coming from. But if JJ Redick is a coach, he is not a medical trainer, okay? He has got to listen to the staff and what they're saying. If you blame anybody, you put a little on JJ if you want. But the main blame should go on the Lakers training staff. And Luka has his own training staff that travels with him and looks after him. They're the ones that told jj, hey, he's okay to go out there and play and Austin's okay to go out there and play. And I get. Colin, look, in today's NBA, we see a lot of teams come back from huge deficits. Now, I don't think they were obviously coming back from 30 down, but JJ, I get it. Throw them out there for the first six minutes of the second half. Let's see if we can cut into the lead, maybe get it to 15 and then maybe make a little run. Or we play them a few day in a few more days. And we also might meet them in the playoffs. So let's get at least some positive mojo going, see if we can get something going, start figuring some things out against them for the next times we meet them and maybe even in the postseason. So I'm not going to kill jj. Obviously it looks bad, but the training staff are the ones that really should have held those guys out.

[Colin Cowherd]

So I thought it was interesting. I mean, listen, LeBron. Dozens of players over the last several years have complained about Memphis. And coaches, play by play. I mean, listen, whatever. I'm not. Listen. Downtowns go through cycles. St. Louis, downtown is dead. I lived in Portland. It was vibrant. It's empty. Political situations. Could be homeless issue. Well, whatever it is, I did think it's interesting. People have complained that LeBron is too rehearsed, and then he's finally authentic and he gets crushed for it. You know, it's like, you know, dozens of guys. In fact, there was a viral clip this weekend. Somebody put it on. Apologies. Somebody put it out there. Of 20 NBA guys complaining about Memphis. I don't know it well enough to have an opinion. I've been there one night. It's kind of charming, but I don't know much about its politics and economic decline or growth. What did you make of the reaction where LeBron got a lot of heat for mentioning that he doesn't want to go to Memphis?

[Chris Broussard]

Well, I'm like, look, I've been in Memphis a lot. I got some friends there. I like it. Obviously, it's a tough city, has his challenges like a lot of urban centers in our country. And I know, Look, I've known LeBron since he was a rookie, and I've talked to him. I've talked to him about race at times, years ago. Obviously, he's done a lot for, you know, the Akron community. He stood up for, you know, racial incidents with African Americans. Trayvon Martin comes to mind, things like that. So we know LeBron is about racial justice and equality and all of that. So anyone questioning, kind of him feeling maybe saying this because Memphis is a majority black city, that's kind of ridiculous. Now, what I will say, though, And I know LeBron didn't mean it this way at all, I don't think there's an ounce of his being that meant it this way or thought about it like this. That said, Colin, the optics didn't look good. Right. He's on the golf course. Golf's an elitist sport. That's the image of it. Right?

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Chris Broussard]

He's on the golf course with a bunch of white guys, and he's talking about this majority black city and moving from there to Nashville. Country Western, so the optics were bad. But if you know LeBron and you know his history, which we all do, you know, he didn't mean it that way, but it just. It didn't look good. And I think that's why he got some pushback.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, no, I. I get that. You know, it's. I watched Wemby take on Jokic a big chunk of that game. It was. I mean, it's just. You're talking about the best offensive center maybe ever, and maybe the best defensive center. One of the questions about San Antonio is, listen, you can't go from. I mean, de' Aaron Fox is like the only dude they have on the roster with playoff experience, and it's Harrison Barnes. Yeah, okay, you're right. Not much.

[Chris Broussard]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

And I, as I watched that game, it did go overtime, but I kept thinking the way to beat San Antonio is get them late, keep it close. Denver's got experience. OKC now has experience. Minnesota's got playoffs experience. When you watch that game, is there any party of that thinks they can be had despite how hot they are? They just got no NBA playoff experience.

[Chris Broussard]

Yeah. And look, I like Memphis a lot. I mean, I'm sorry. San Antonio a lot. I think. I'm not sure who I'm picking yet. We haven't made our official picks lean in okc, but might go with the Spurs. But Colin, watching that game, a lot of people took from it, just Jokic was taking it to Wimby in overtime, which was true. But what I took from it is what you were saying. Like, I was watching that game. Like, oh, man, this is where you see the experience of the Denver Nuggets versus the inexperience, the naivety, just. Just never having been there of the Spurs. And it showed up late in that game. So you're absolutely right. What I would say is this. Conventional wisdom obviously says they need more playoff experience, but wembanyama is something we've just never seen before. And conventional wisdom would tell us you'll never see a 7 foot 5 guy doing the things he does, making moves, dribbling the basketball, shooting threes. So to a degree, you gotta throw a little bit of conventional wisdom out the window and just say, hey, maybe he can get it done. But that's what scares me about the Spurs. And I actually thought, colin, not now, because the Lakers are decimated. But had the Lakers and Spurs met in the second round, I would have picked the Spurs. But that was something I was like, man, the Lakers have all of this playoff experience and the spurs have virtually none. That just would have been like a case study in the importance of experience in the playoffs in the NBA. So it is something that could come back to bite them against Denver or okc.

[Colin Cowherd]

Let you go with this. Rachel Nichols came on filled in Friday and she made a point. She said that Oklahoma City loss, nothing was good about it. I mean, the oblique injury to Austin, Luca, the blowout. But there's an argument to be made that the new owners needed to see that in that Luca has high usage rate. He's been banged up the last two, three years. Austin gets banged up because the Lakers have a roster with no bench, no three point shooting. He has to be out there. And LeBron, despite Lucas injury, only had seven shots because he's 41. And that, you know, it's the old Louis Vuitton fake Louis Vuitton bag. When you put them next to each other, you can, you can tell the fraud. And at that game, as Rachel pointed out, that's the kind of game you look at if you're a new owner and go, guys, we're five players away. You know, we can't be paying LeBron big money. I did, I think that's a really good point. Your thought on not they lost, how they lost and the gap, that appeared obvious.

[Chris Broussard]

No, I think that's a great point. And you're right, the owners need to see that because a lot of people were beginning to believe the Lakers actually have a shot.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Chris Broussard]

You know, like they, they, they're on the level of OKC in San Antonio and Boston and could win this thing and that a hard dose of reality. And so to your point, going into the off season, look, LeBron has shown that he can be the third option. He can do the little things that fit in with Luka and Austin reaves being the first and second options. And so if you want to bring LeBron back next year at a lower, much lower salary, and he's willing to do that, and then you can still go out and get the athletes, the defenders, the shooters that you need to play and maximize alongside Luka Doncic, then I think that could work. But they need, look, they, they could have gone if that game had gone differently. Maybe they go into this offseason thinking, hey, we could come run it back next year, make a tweak here or there and see if we can win it. Now they know, Colin, the Lakers cannot match up with teams that are young, athletic, energetic and deep. Right? Okc, San Antonio, Detroit, those three teams come at you with waves of defensive Pressure. And the last eight games the Lakers have played against those teams, they've lost. And so they just can't. They can match up better with a Denver, a Houston. Right. Older team, slower teams, but they can't play with these young, talented, deep teams. And that's who they have to get through to win the championship.

[Colin Cowherd]

I want to ask one more. Cooper Flag's remarkable. And I said this earlier, listen, the last domestic player to win MVP was James Harden. It does matter. I mean, it really does. And I'm. I love international players. I think they're amazing. And I think it's really important. This draft coming up is just unstaffed with domestic talent. Last year's draft, very domestic. I do think it's important that we have a wave of very good American players. That's not anti anybody. It's the reality. I mean, in Canada, you got to have some Canadian hockey stars. That's good for the sport, in my opinion. I wonder if that gets talked about in league circles about, hey, he is. He is the great domestic hope because LeBron and Steph and KD, I mean, that baton has been yanked out of their hands.

[Chris Broussard]

Yeah, no, I agree. You got him. You got Anthony Davis. And as you said, this draft is stacked with great American talent. And hopefully, Colin, that our guys have looked at the way the international players have dominated at least the MVP race and they're saying, okay, we have to step up our game. We just have to play better. And maybe that's what's happening. But, yeah, it's very important. And you know, I was saying years ago, I would love to see a white American superstar in the NBA. The last one, I don't know Stockton, John Stockton, but he was, you know, not an exciting player. I'd like to see somebody like a Larry Bird. And we had obviously Jokic and Luka, who are great white international players, but Cooper Flagg is a great white American player and he is going to be a superstar. And so that's great to see. I think it's just good for the league. And, you know, he. It's interesting. I think I was looking at Con Knippel Collins as my rookie of the year, but I actually think this weekend has switched me to Cooper Flag. It's similar to LeBron and Carmelo Anthony their rookie year. LeBron won rookie of the Year. Carmelo, though, led Denver to the playoffs. LeBron didn't do that with Cleveland.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[Chris Broussard]

But people went with LeBron. And so I think Cooper, maybe he took it away from Con. Cannibal his college roommate. And Khan's gonna be a star too, it looks like.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, Khan's a good player. I, I like the forcefulness of Cooper Flag attacking the rim. I think Khan's terrific. Cooper Flag. I don't know if con has face of the league stuff. Cooper is, he's got the feistiness of, you know, like an MJ or a bird. Like, like he, he is a brawler. He'll go right at you and I like that quality, you know.

[Chris Broussard]

Well, look, and maybe I'll, I'm wrong about this because I've said look, Luca, I think is just a better player than Cooper Flag. I think he will be better than Cooper Flag will be. I could be wrong about that. But I would rather Colin have Cooper Flag on my team to build around.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Chris Broussard]

Because if you watch him, even right, even when he gets 50, it's kind of in the flow. It's in the flow of the offense. Other guys are touching the ball, he defends. Obviously. I just think it's easier to build around him than it will be around Luka.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, I, I, I, I've said that before. I, I like Luke and I appreciate it. But my favorite players were always MJ and Kobe and guys that defended. You know, I don't like you to surrender on the other end. I want you to compete. Dwayne Wade doesn't have as much talent as many of the great players. Dwayne just D. Wade battled every possession on both ends and I love that. Chris Prussard, we got to go. Good seeing you, buddy.

[Chris Broussard]

All right, man.

[Colin Cowherd]

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Really?

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How's this?

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[Chris Broussard]

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[News Anchor]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube and you can be a part of it. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. Hit that subscribe button and smash that notification bell and catch all the videos from your favorite shows. Two pros and a cup of Joe. Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, Stu Godson company Live, Cavino and Rich, the Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington, the Jason Smith show with Mike Harmon and the Ben Maller Show. Fox sports radio on YouTube.

[Colin Cowherd]

Subscribe. Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away. The Bulls just blew out their GM and head of basketball ops. They haven't won a playoff series in 15 years. They don't know what they're doing so they blew everybody out. I'm a season ticket holder. I can have that opinion. I have no pull at all. But I buy plenty of beers for friends, so they got to start over. They don't listen. The owner's never going to sell it because it's a cash cow. They lead the NBA in attendance like every year. And Chicago loves basketball, but they're just not a serious organization. They. They gotta get. They gotta find their Sam Presti. So they blew everybody out and they should have. Mike Malone just got the North Carolina job. It's interesting. Back in the fall, our guys found this. He was at a UNC podcast telling a story when he was there watching a Tar Heels practice.

[Mike Malone]

The first practice I went to was in the practice gym. Then the first time I was in the big gym, the manager brought me in to sit upstairs. The next thing I see Hubert Davis waving.

[News Anchor]

Oh, bring him down here.

[Mike Malone]

So then I was sitting on the floor. I thought, this is nice. I had no idea what that meant though, until I went to dinner with Pat Sullivan and he said, hey, that's a really big honor because I didn't coach here, I didn't play here, I didn't graduate from Carolina, and that C is reserved for family. And that made me even feel more welcome.

[Colin Cowherd]

And you know, college can get provincial, so apparently there's chairs that are only for family. You know, that's the way it works in college. So I think he's a good hire. I think he's an intense guy. Like Billy Donovan had success, very, you know, competitive guy, kind of. I didn't like the way they treated him in reportedly in Denver, if we, if we all remember that, that the GM had a little problem with Malone. So the GM is drafting guys and they wanted Malone to play the young guys. And Malone's like, no, I want to play the old guys. I want to veterans with Jokic. Jokic is not the easiest guy to play with. That's why Jamal Murray and Jokic have played a million games together. Because Jokic is such a high functioning player. You know, he and Murray are hand to glove, man. They just, they just know each other. I really think Denver's going to be interesting in the playoffs if Gordon's healthy. He is such a valuable guy that doesn't get the love he deserves. So Mike Malone's the new coach. That's a. I mean, I'm trying to think of the great. Kentucky's always been high maintenance and kind of dysfunctional, but they're a great program. If you told me you get any college job. I, you know, I know UConn well, so I. That I'd be familiar. But you know, Duke, UConn, Arizona, Carolina, Kansas, Chapel Hill is supposed to be a great place to live, so. And it matters. That stuff matters. I'm sorry. I mean, I think they'll be good immediately. Belichick, if you would have guessed three years ago, just think about three or four years ago, I'd have told you Bill Belichick and Mike Malone will be coaching football and basketball at unc. Well, what are you hot take? What are you talking about? You just don't know. I. My guess is. And you know who I'm really happy for today? Mike Malone. Billy Donovan. So can we, can we give Billy Donovan? I mean, you know, he didn't win a title at okc and you know, he got kind of a bad reputation. Guy's great guys, built a dynasty at a football school. Florida, back to back championships, dominated the SEC even with Kentucky there. Then he goes to Chicago and he's had to just, you know, endure a bunch of nonsense. I got, I don't even know the GM and the basketball ops guy for the Bulls, but they're just, there are just some organizations that just don't feel serious. And Billy Donovan deserves really keen insight from his GM basketball ops guy. So I like what the Bulls did. Maybe I'll renew my tickets. You know, it was go either way decision. My guys don't. They don't want me to sell my tickets to the Bulls. That is a good time. United center is always a good time, even if the basketball isn't always great. We'll see you tomorrow.

[Podcast Host]

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