Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. All right, Welcome to the Herd. I am your host, Chris Brusard along with my man Jason McIntire also known as Jay mackin. We are in for Colin Cowherd. Obviously he is off. We hope he has a wonderful weekend, as do we hope for you. But for now we're gonna bring you into that weekend with a great three hours. So keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app. Let me welcome in my man Jason McIntire, j mack What up, brother, I'm great, Chris. I am great, very excited to be hosting with you. It's in a few years since we did this. I think we did it from the FS one Studios pre COVID and it was an NBA is show in July. This one will be a little NBA, a little NFL, and of course, as usual, Chrispers, Bruce Hard and I will agree on everything because we are in lockstep in life and in sports as well. I don't know how that sounds to me. I gotta let me think about that before I let you lock me into being in lockstep with you on everything. But now you're my man, we're gonna have a lot of fun. We got e from Salim joining us in about twenty minutes. He is always great, no, not just NFL. Don't be fooled that he was, you know, a former NFL player. He also knows this hoop. So we'll talk about him everything with him. But j Mac, let us start off with the NBA. As you mentioned, and we saw yesterday DeAndre Ayton one of the top centers in the league. I was saying, Earl on first things first, that he almost made my third team All NBA as a sinner because I went with Rudy Gobert. But I thought long and hard about putting my man DeAndre Aden in there. Seventeen points, ten rebounds a game, you can mark that in to the box score. But Indiana made him a max offer sheet four years, one hundred and thirty three million, And after all of the back and forth, all of the cold shouldering and everything from his team to Phoenix Suns, at the end of the day, they went ahead and matched the offer. So DeAndre Aiden will be back with the Sons, can't be traded until January fifteenth, and can veto any trade anywhere for a year. So basically good for the Sons. But you know what, j mack, the real story about this, It essentially takes Phoenix out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes because they were one of the teams on his wish list. The Sun aren't willing to give up Devin Booker, and so what even if it were a three or four team deal, if they're not parting with DeAndre Ayton or Devin Booker, is simply not happening. And so now Miami second team on his wish list, they don't seem to have the pieces to get it done. I've said all along that I feel like he should return to Brooklyn. I feel like Brooklyn should be like, you know, we looked KD. We didn't find a great offer. So we'll see you in September. At training camp, but it seems to be down to Brooklyn staying there or there is a little moment I don't even want to say growing momentum, but there's a little bit of talk about Kayd returning to the Warriors. Now I've heard that. I've heard rumblings. Not sure I believe them, but I have started to hear in a few different places that k D would like to go back to the Warrior. So here's what I want to ask you, Jake j Mac do you think it's a bad idea for Kevin Durant to go back to Golden State. I think bad is putting it lightly. Chris, this is a terrible idea. First of all, I don't think the Warriors would mortgage the farm, giving up say Jordan Pool Wiggins cominga Wiseman Moody, which is kind of what the Nets want. But from remember, they can't give up Wiggins Yams and he's he's got to be untradeable right now. I mean, nobody knows where his head is at. But let's say, just philosophically, if it can work, because maybe you can work it out with a three team deal or something like that. Just philosophically, do you like the notion from k d's standpoint of him going back to gold It's terrible for Kevin Durant. This isn't the should be an unmitigated disaster. Chris. You've heard the phrase you can't go home again, right, because when you go home, it's never the same, and I know a lot of Well, it was a little different for Lebron because he won the championship he had not won before. Kevin Durant went to Golden State, won two titles, was the NBA Finals, MVP twice. They were the greatest team in NBA history in twenty seventeen. Okay, they went sixteen and one in the playoffs, just a they level. They vaporized the entire league, Chris, Kevin Durant was the best player in the league. But we got to remember he was twenty eight years old, and in twenty seventeen, when they are twenty eighteen, when they want it again, he was twenty nine. He was in his prime. KD turned thirty four in September. Chris, this is a guy coming off an Achilles injury. He's still a very very good player. That seems to be You seem to be building a case for him to return. Absolutely not Chris, because if he's not as good as you seem to be saying, and he can't carry well this is the phrase, you can't go home again. And I know some people are like, well his home, it's not Golden State, and then the counter to that is, well, it certainly isn't okay. See, they hate him in okase He has been boot in okasey five years. He's not they burned his jerseys, right, So this is and to get philosophical on you, like, this is kind of a man with no home. And Kevin Durant is a bit of a wanderer. He is the kind of guy who is searching for something, you know, going back to his high school days, Kevin Durant three different high schools. He went to three different high schools. Chris like bouncing around and then he's a he's a Northern Virginia DMV kind of guy. I'm from that area as well. The psycho and now again Chris, out of the blue. He goes to Texas, you know, and he was very good there. I mean, maybe he's trying a new thing. Let me get out of the area, go to Texas. And then he comes to the NBA. Okay, see, then he leaves for Golden State. I advocated that move. Then he goes to Brooklyn. Now he wants out again, like what is he searching for? And Chris, I just say there there's a better chance that things go awry for KD on his return to Golden State because they're not going to be as good. They just aren't. He's very good, but everybody, they would be the definitive favorite. I mean, I think they're already up there with the Clippers in the way, they're all right, they're up there and they're they let's even call him the favorite. But it's close, right, Clippers and the West is loaded with Kay, but christ become the definitive favorite. What is being the favorite? Mean? That doesn't mean anything. They would happened, but I think there's so much. Here's what that means the Golden State they are the best teams. What it means Okay on paper? Yes, what is that worth? Okay, let's look in the locker room. What happened At the end. K D kind of said, I'm out of here. Of course he's yes, But guess what it's cool to be friends on social media and doing podcasts, and when you see him in the club, it's another thing to be part of an eighty two game season and a twenty game playoff run and be in the locker room with them all the time. We remember it got ugly with Draymond Green and Kay It ain't ugly Now Draymond's on his podcast dropping all his revisions history. Hey, we we we loved him in the organization. It was you guys out there the media that didn't appreciate him when it was I'm not saying they didn't like because they recognize his greatness within the Warriors organization, but so did the media. It was the media naming him the Finals MVP when, especially the second year, you could have justified giving it to Steph even though Kadi was the best. It was the media, like you, just saying saying he was the best player in the world. That's revisionist history. Oh, we couldn't have beat the Calves in seventeen and eighteen without k D. I think that's revisionist is I think they could have beaten him in seventeen And so Draymond is doing this j Mack to make way for if KD somehow decides he wants to return. It's all good. Steph will get to this later. But there are reports about him reaching out to KD. I mean, there was a report that all three of the stars, including Clay, had had talked to KD. I'm just saying, Look, I tend to agree with you that is not a great idea for Kevin Durant, but for different reasons. I don't think he's washed as you. I mean, I don't think you think he's wahed, but you certainly paid the picture. Like now he's thirty four, he's I mean, I's coming off the Chris. He's as good as he used to be. No Chris, and when he ever, why isn't he as good? Because he coodn't carry a team in the twenty ever carried a team to a championship. In the twenty seventeen playoffs, Kevin Durant averaged are you ready for this? Fifty five percent shooting forty four percent from three, eighty nine percent from the foul line twenty eight points. Was the finals MVCA. He got outplayed head to head in the first round by Jason Tatum. This year period, let me share with you why, and he did. But first of all, it's easier to play high level basketball when you are surrounded by stars. And that's what people don't underst stand when they give all this. Kad has so much pressure on him. You know, in the finals in twenty seventeen, yes he had pressure because everybody hated him. Not everybody, but you know, people looked at him negatively because he went to Golden Stayed, a seventy three win team that had just dropped him in the conference finals. That was the pressure. But he had gotten over that. He got over that when he decided to go there. He said I can handle it. And he played great all year and he was great in the finals. But on the court, when you have the opponent double team and a teammate Steph Curry, when you have Klay Thompson another guy they have to worry about, it's easier for you to do your thing. So Kade was great. I'm not taking anything from him, but let's not act like he had to carry a team by himself like he was asked to do. In Brooklyn. Kyrie was great in Game one, didn't do much in the last three. He was okay. Their offense was give it to Kevin, give it to Kyrie and let's watch him go one on one. Maybe we'll set a pick. Other than that, do your thing, guys. Whereas in Golden State, a lot of ball movement, a lot of player movement, more sophisticated, better scheming. So that is why I look Kevin. If you want to bring up the injuries, that's fair. Christ played. Kevin Durant is not as good as he was Kevin Durant twenty seven. He's absolutely not. He's played eighty I'm sorry, nay, he's playing ninety games in three years. He has not the same player. And Chris took it to your point, Hold on to your point. In twenty seventeen, the Warriors did have stars. Clay Thompson was a star. Draymond was a star. They are not. They were down two to one in the finals. Clay Thompson was being discussed as washed because he was playing poorly. Draymond Gramason was the same amount of points in the play. He's not even close to the same player. Do not, Yeah, but I think he will be when he comes, maybe if they get Kevin Durant. However, Draymond Green was essentially benched down the stretch in a Pivotal Game by Steve Steve Kerr. It was a genius move. So these guys aren't the same Warriors where you're gonna have to double Clay and focus on staff and your story. Five years later, Chris five years and moved from that incredible team in twenty seventeen. J Mac again, I agree with you. It's not the best idea in the world for k D. But I don't like your reasoning. This team that you seem to be poop I used to be. Dre's not what he used to be. Yeah, they just won the title without Kevin Durant, and you're gonna tell me that adding Kevin Durant they're not gonna be as good again. You gotta look at they will be the definitive favor. But here, hold on, let me ask quick who wrote the second best person on the Warriors in the finals. This should be easy Wiggins, okay? And in any deal to make salaries match, Wiggins has to be moved. I don't know if a third team is A third team could easily be involved Indiana. Indiana could absorb. They have a ton of cap room. You talked about to get cap room because of Mitchell Simmons would easily be moved if you remove Wiggins, who was the second BUSS player on the worst. He was incredible defensively against Tatum. He came through offensively, like Kevin Durant is gonna have to fill that role, and I know he's better than he's gonna be a defender. Who's gonna be on this team? Head, Well, he's not anymore. He's not. This is not going to play this reality. Man, We'll see j Matt. He was coming off a major injury and he's dropped into the most important games of the season. Can we give him a minute to get get back? They're right, Let's see what he does. I'm not saying he'll ever be as good as he was as a defender, but can he be good? Yeah? I think he will be a good defender. And if you've noticed over this run for the Warriors these last six years, everybody when they go to Golden State, they play better because their role is defined. The offensive system is player friendly if you want to hustle and move, and so I I'm not certain, but I do think a young guy like if you have Kevin Durant, I can say bye to Jordan Pool I'm not. As much as I like Jordan Pool, I would have Steph k D and Clay as big time scores. And then I think a Jordan, I mean a cominga can step in as maybe that who are you giving up? Who are you giving away for? Kevin Duran give me this deal if you're keeping comminga well and if if I have to give up Wiggins and Pool, then I can say, yeah, I'm keeping one of the young boys. Now if I if I, if I, I would love to do it without Wiggins. I'm with you on how great Christian You're saying Wiggins and Pool. So they rejected a Son's deal for Eton and Bridges, and you think they're doing Wiggins and Pool. You gotta give up way more than that. They're gonna one give up, They're gonna want all that way. Yes, Wiseman would be a part of it. Wig. If I had to give a Wiggins, Pool and Wiseman and maybe Moody, that's it. I'm not I'm not doing that, all right, But that's not the issue. The point is is it right for KD? No? All right, And here's my point. You're you're saying this, I'm just terrible. I think you're making an argument why it would be good for him. No, it's a move. Well, let me finish, all right. I listened to your three, four or five minutes soliloquy. Can I say something? Go ahead? All right? You are saying k D's not as good as he used to be. The Warriors aren't as good as they used to be. It wouldn't be laid out on a platterform, you know, they wouldn't be like like seventeen and eighteen, where it's automatic. Those seem to be reasons where k D would go. I'm thirty four, I've only played ninety games my last three years. I can't carry a team. Let me go somewhere where we can all work together, and it's not just me. Argument for Golden State, it's not laid out on a silver platter. It wouldn't be easy to win it. Argument for returning to Golden State. My saying, my reasoning is this, J Mack. If Kevin Durant goes back to Golden State, he'll forever be known as a Robin. He will because they have proven that they can win it, not once, but twice without him. Okay, it is Steph's team, and so it look k D. By his own admission, he can get mad. By his own admission GQ magazine. He said when he first joined the Warriors, he's not a leader, all right. He can go there and not have to be the leader. He can just hoop, to use his word, all right. But it will always be known as Steph's team. Now here's the upside. If they win another championship, which I definitely think they win one more, maybe two. If they win multiple rings, Kevin Durant will also go down as part of the one of the greatest duos in NBA history. You got Jordan Pippen, you got Shot Kobe, you got Kareem Magic. You'll have Steph KD winners of three four rings together, and that is you know, And it won't be the gap between Jordan Pippen. It'll be more like Shot Kobe and KD may win more of those finals MVPs. So if he has kind of come to the self revelation of you know what, I don't want to lead a team. I just want to hoop. I'm fine going in there. It's Steph's team, you know, and people gonna criticize me, so what I don't care. I just want to be happy. If he has come to that realization, then he could go back there, but he'd have to understand, I'm gonna be recognized as an all time great. You can't be a robin if you have two Finals MVPs and an NBA MVP Chris, that just that doesn't happen. Sure, why not? Why not? You were a Finals MVP twice in the MVP of the league. You are an alpha. He was MVP of the league ages ago. Yeah, you were one talking about twenty seventeen and he was. You're talking about his career team. Remember this is a Kevin Duran who went on Twitter this week and say, but what did you do for you today? He never won as the lead leader of a team that about. He was the best player, but he wasn't the leader of that. How do you quantify leader? Uh? You you set that. You either set the culture like a Tim Duncan did in San Antonio, like a Steph Curry does Golden State old On. You asked me a question, let me or you are a vocal leader. You you get everybody going you. You solved the issues and challenges that the team is face. They looked to you for advice or as an example, did they do any of that with Kevin Durant. Yeah, he played great, but he wasn't setting any soone he stepped into the tone. By that, By that measure, whoever is drafted by that team is the leader, right, No oa, who was the Miami Heat leader when Lebron went there with Chris Bosh Initially it was Dwayne Okay, because Wade was drafted there. So you're setting the idea of way had already led them to a championship. And it's part of your personality. Lebron was learning to lead you something. It's sometimes you're born with it. Sometimes you can you can improve at it. But it's not just about being drafted somewhere. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in newn Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeart Radio app j MC. Let's go back to the NBA and interesting column in Bleacher Report a few days ago they talked a about a Kevin Durant for Lebron James trade. Now we know Phoenix, Miami, even Golden State, all these trades are very complicated. K D for Lebron would be simple straight up. Salaries are very close and you could do it easily, And I talked to someone close to Lebron about it. Lebron would want no part of that whatsoever. He's happy in LA. He wants to stay in LA. He's not just desperately chasing rings, and so he doesn't want any part of it. I don't think the Lakers would do it. I don't think they'd send Lebron somewhere where he wouldn't want to go, just out of respect. But who knows. Robert or a Lake or Grade by virtue of hitting so many big shots. He was on his podcast, The Big Shot, and he had different ideas here he is Robert Dory. I think there's only probably one dude in league right now. Two dudes, I'd say two dudes that aren't on the trading block wouldn't be on the trademer. That's Luca and Stiff. Everybody else can be traded. I don't care who you are. Do you think the Lakers would move on from Lebron? Hell? Yeah? Really yeah, because you don't think about it. I think it's kind of rooted now, you know. Yeah, But if someone said, you know what, I'm gonna give you. Let's say I give you Kadh Yeah, if you rob polical sources. Okay, I give you Katie for Lebron. You have to do that trade because Katie got about ten years left. Lebron got by three. Okay. Um, First of all, and I love Big Shot. A couple of little factual errors. I'm sure they were factual errors, mental typos if you will. The fact that he didn't include Yannis in the untradeable group. Uh, that's a mistake. I'm sure he would include Yannis, just he just overlooked the honest. And then to Saint Kevin Durand's got ten years left, Lucy think is Tom Brady. He's thirty thirty four in September. So that may take a little bit of steam incredibility away from what Big Shots saying. But your thoughts on that. J mack Well, first of all, this is an absolute stunner. I did not read this column or hear the podcast. This is the first is a report, and I will say is just an opinion. Regarding Robert Ory. He came on my podcast Straight Fire about three weeks before Darvenham was hired and said, I'm telling you Darvinham's the guy for the Lakers, and I was like, okay, sure everybody else was saying all these other names. He nailed it. Now. I don't know if he has inside info. I know he's worked at the network out here that does the Lakers. He does some studio stuff. Big Shot Bob is connected. That being said, Chris, I was just digging into this during the commercial break. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the Lakers would have to consider it now. Lebron would hate them forever, and you never want to be the team that trades away Lebron James the greatest player in NBA basketball history. That being said, He's thirty eight in December, k D thirty four, Katie's younger, and more importantly, Kevin Durant is locked in for four more years. Lebron we know is gonna go wherever he wants to in two years to play with his son Ala Ken Griffe Jr. So, if you want security, and you're the Lakers, and you know, hey, we got KAD for four years. Kad and Anthony Davis, Hell yeah, I mean listen, I love Lebron, I love Kevin Durant. I can't believe I'm saying this, Chris, I think you've got to strongly considerate if you are the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm just stopping short of saying you gotta do the deal because it's Lebron fre James. It's Lebron James. You don't just give away Lebron James chause you're not giving him away. That's the thing you're getting getting Kevin freaking Durant. Now, obviously there's one more potential stumbling block. What's that Russell Westbrook. Oh, I mean it would only be for a year, but would Kad sign off on it? Because I'm gonna be honest with you. I Westbrook obviously has his issues, but if there's a player that knows how to play off of him, it is Kevin Durant. And that was Jay Mack. They didn't win a championship, but that was a very, very very good team when they were together. I know neither of them were as young as they used to be, of course, but the question is what Katie signed off on that, even for a year. But if you're the Lakers and you really want to do this deal, and again I don't think it happens. I think the Lakers I just don't think they do that to Lebron. I also think, even though they don't look like they're in position to win next year, they want to have him break Kareem's record in a Lakers jersey. But to Robert Ory's point, Lebron does not have a no trade clause, and so that's where it becomes und is that's something they think about. Let me say this, as much as Lebron doesn't want to go, and I get it, I understand it, he would have a better chance of winning another championship in Brooklyn. J Man. Brooklyn would be nice. The roster is built around the type of roster that Lebron James needs. You got shooters, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Kyrie, Irving, Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons can can go down to the dunker spot. That's what it all I need from him. I don't see him Kyrie. Kyrie, let me just be Kyrie obviously is a wild card no matter who he's playing with. But I do think Lebron is built to get the best out of Kyrie. We've seen it the only time Kyrie's really won. It's not guaranteed, because you never know with Kyrie. But the only time Kyrie has wanted a big level was with Lebron. And here's the other thing, Jay Mack. Kyrie is smart enough to know. Please, no, he's smart enough to know, and I've been told this by somebody's talk to him, that he has got to be on his best behavior next week and wants if he wants to resurrect his image and get the bag, at least have a shot at getting the back. And I'm not guaranteed at least have a shot at getting the bag next summer. That he has to not only play well, which we know he will when he plays, but he has to show up. He has to not take hiatuses. He has to be on time, he has to have a good attitude. He has to be a good teammate. I think he can do that with Lebron and Chris. You seemingly have forgotten that. In twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen, whatever it was, Tyler was coaching the Calves and he was telling Kyrie what to do, and Kyrie's like, it's Lebron's team, and he throws the ball at him and walks out of project. But he's had a change of heart. Really think he had a change of Hearty, he's been as a knucklehead in Boston, and he was a knucklehead in Brooklyn, and he treated Steve Nash like garbage and now he wants and those he could have grown up. A tiger doesn't change his stripes. This is who he is. Kyrie Irving is a crazy person who doesn't want to work well with anybody. He's the kid who in third grade gets that does not play well with others on his report card. That's who Kyrie Irving is. If he didn't play well with others, he wouldn't have a championship, all right, Number one, Number two. He's clearly had a change of heart, because why he's even considering playing with Lebron again and again. I understand he's a he's still a wild card even with Lebron. I'm just saying, you can't sit here and tell me definitively with all of the reasons he has to behave that he absolutely would not too many question marks. Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving, that's way too much. Lebron has as is his head chance at a ring? What about it bad this year? Who he has no chance in a ring? In LA this Lebron. Why because they wanted two years ago and they can't do it again? Oh really when us was Russell Westberg? Gonna listen, I just read a report that San Antonio can be the facilitator in taking get back to me right now. They have no chance, no chance. The Lakers have no chance. Rob and and Ryan. Clip that off and put it up Christ chance. That is nonsense. Oh my god, no chance for Lebron. Lebron's gonna be thirty eight years old in December. My man Michael, he was at an all NBA level himself. He was an All NBA player this season. Stop it stop. There's a lot of All NBA players, not Donovan Mitchell. Oh, I went there. That's all you got. Never I am a Knicks fan. I like Mitchell and you ripping down him? Hey, hey guy, clip that just the thing that Hey, it's me Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker or twenty two minutes of Piping Hot Baseball Talk, featuring the biggest name to newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the Eyecast, We've got all the basis covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, So do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. It's been a rough few weeks for Lamar Jackson, and let me recap. And you kind of dismissed it as what a network a TV show pole or what was it? Was that wrong? I'm about this, Yes, you were wrong, because a TV show poll would presumably be a pole of fans, a pole maybe of media, a pole of reporters from that network. This was not that. This was a pole of fifty plus executives in the NFL, coaches in the NFL, scouts and players in the NFL. Lamar Jackson's peers, and they did not have him in the top ten of quarterbacks. All right, I agree with you, Travesty should have been ahead of Dak Prescott, should have been ahead of Deshaun Watson, who we have haven't seen on the football field in over a year. All right, But there was that, And then I was stunned to see Lamar Jackson get challenged on Twitter the way he did from Bernard Pilot. Now, Bernard Pilot was no Hall of Famer pro bowler, he was a hard hitter. Yeah, he was a hard hitter, and he was a good player. He started for the Ravens when they won the Super Bowl. So he's not some chump, right, But still I was surprised because usually players and even former players defend Lamar Jackson, even if inside they may feel like, Okay, he does have his deficiencies this and that, people go out of their way to praise him, all right and defend him. And so for Bernard Powler to go at it, it was a bit surprising for me to me. And what he said, jay Mack was that he's got to be better thrown from the pocket. And you know, he didn't say it the right way, but it was something Lamar could learn. He was like, why everybody understands the way he plays is not sustainable just because of age or potentially injury, and so they need to be talking about him staying in the pocket and being more of a quote unquote traditional quarterback. And he then throughout you mentioned earlier when we're talking to eat him, they got to get him some top flight receivers. Well, they've tried, and I get it, they haven't gone. They haven't been able to get a Tyreek Hill in the building or DeAndre Hopkins listen to him. But they have reached out to good receivers and they've been turned down. Okay, because I'm with you. Stefan Diggs worked wonders for Josh Allen. DeAndre Hopkins worked wonders for Kyler Murray, so you are right in that they need to get this young quarterback a great receiver. They went after t Y Hilton, he turned down more money. Okay, Okay, he's not all pro, but still the fact that makes it worse that you got average receivers, good receivers saying thanks, but no thanks, I'll take less money to go to Indianapolis and play with Carson wentz d. You had Kenny Golladay choosing the Giants. Now I know they've offered him more money, but the Giants and Daniel Jones over Baltimore. You had you had choosing Daniel Jones over Lamar Jackson. Like he's choosing New York City and a lot of money over Baltimore. And I don't know if Baltimore offered him, Like, okay, take that. Take Kenny golla Day out. I don't necessarily agree with you, but take him out. Because they did offer you more money. T ry Hilton turned down more money, uh juju Smith Schuster turned down more money from Baltimore to stay with an aged Ben Roethlisberger. And then Hollywood Brown his boy, Lamar's boy left to go to Arizona wanted to trade. And so this is my this is my question because I am a Lamar fan, but I'm also objective, and this is what I want to ask you, is the shine when you look at all this stuff? Somebody challenging him on Twitter? Players, well not somebody, I mean former a former Ravens Super Bowl champion. What did damn do? Oh? So we just gonna poop? How many guys challenge you on Twitter a day? Do you care this? This is a football player or ex football That's all I'm saying. Usually they've defended him. Don't compare an ex professional athlete to Joe Schmo who works as an office manager. All Right, it's not the same when you're talking about sports. Let's just keep it real. And you got these receivers they didn't want to play there, and you've got him not being ranked in the top ten. What are your thoughts on this? Jay mcnon as some of the shine or the shine come off of Acon Jackson. Absolutely none. That is, the shine is not off. If anything, he's ascending. The guy's twenty four years old. Let me just remind the unwashed masses out there, the guys who come at me on social media. Oh, Lamar Jackson stinks. He can't be a running quarterback. I just want to note to everybody, Lamar Jackson started halfway through his rookie year, end up getting the team to the playoffs. Second year, was the MVP of the league, shout out week sixteen. Third year sat out week sixteen. And the only injury he's gotten for a quarterback who runs a loop more than Josh Allen. By the way, Lamar Jackson has never been injured running the football. The one injury he suffered last year with the ankle in the pocket, he was trying, you know, he was trying to elude a defender because his offensive line was garbage. He took the most sacks last year because because of the injuries, and that's how he suffered the ankle injury. So I know he looks like he could suffer a lot of injuries because he runs, but so does Josh Allen. So did Russell Wilson. These guys are smart. They know how to elude defenders and go down early. Lamar Jackson's running ability is not a hindrance. If anything, it's a positive. I don't think I would offer him Deshaun Watson fully guaranteed contract. I don't think he gets Josh Allen money. I don't think he gets Patrick Mahomes money. But I definitely think, well, he hasn't accomplished. He hasn't accomplished, But that's it doesn't matter. Well, that hadn't accomplished, jack and he became the highest bade quarterback ever, and it's bad business. And now they're sitting on the most expensive backup in NFL. Well, that that's bad what you've done. Okay, if you're in top level quarterback and your time is now, you generally become the highest Deshaun Watson just got the worst quarterback contract or best defending how you look at it, in the market morons, that's what they can take. Now I'm looking Josh Allen deserves the money. Josh Allen has done a lot. He's gotten the bills too. Hesn't done as much as uh Lamar Jackson. The Buffalo Bills had been to the conference championship. The Buffalo Bills have been to the playoffs. Josh Allen's an MVP contender. He's right here with Lamar Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Chris Have you looked at them? I'm aware of that. Have you looked at the odds? The Bills are the Super Bowl favorites. Josh Allen is the MVP favorite. It's undeniable. So he's worth more than Lamar Jackson. Number two. He's not Patrick Mahomes. We don't even need to go into that. Dak Prescott is the guy who really uh makes my blood bubble. This guy has the same amount of playoff wins as Lamar. He has no MVP to his name. And let's be realistic, Dak Prescott is a good, not great quarterback. Lamar Jackson if you look at the advanced metrics which I used to gamble, and Lamar Jackson is a top ten quarterback undeniably. This is not even up for discussion. I don't care if you don't like the cut of his jib when he's throwing the ball in the pocket. The guy's a sixty six percent completion guy. As an MVP sixty four, then sixty four. He's a good pocket passer. Is he great? Now? He's not Patrick Mahomes. He's never gonna be. But good luck trying to low ball this guy and then find another quarterback after Lamar Jackson. I think you need to pay him at least Dak Prescott money. I would say more, a little more than Dak, and then you go on with your life and you go back to being, you know, one of the five best teams in the in the AFC and in the Super Bowl. Hunt. Well, look, I agree with some of what you said. I do think Lamar Jackson should have been on that top ten list. I think he has been great. But when you say he's ascending, you're just wrong. Now, hopefully he ascends this year, but the last two years since he won his MVP, he has declined in essentially every category, passing and rushing the football. And here this is why I'm saying to Lamar, I hope he hears me. I've been saying it on TV. I've been saying it on radio. I've been saying it on podcast. Lamar, get your money, because Jamack, if you don't think his style of play puts him in Harm's way more than a typical drop back passer. I don't know what to tell you. Say you're right, he has. He's done a great job of eluding the big hits for the most part and avoiding injuries running the football. But that style is not a long term style because when you lose a half a second or I should say a half a tenth of a second, or a tenth of a second, two tenths of a second off your forty time, guess what those shots that you were able to avoid, all of a sudden, they're connect. Let me just Rember. He is half the side. We saw the hit, We saw what running the football did the Cam Newton. He's twice as big as he was a battering ram dude. Lamar Jackson is not. No, he's not, but he's also not nearly as big as Cam. Fair Enough, there's a reason we haven't seen running quarterbacks state last quarterbacks that would argues Christ the evolution. Look at most of it off the quarterbacks they throw the football. You can Russell Wilson. He's sliding all the time. Josh Wilson again, much bigger than Lamar. And this is so that's all I'm saying that's why Pilot and I'm not endorsing everything he said because I thought he was crazy on some of his comments. But Lamar does have They have to throw it more because he already isn't running as much or as effectively as he used to. I want to remind you of the last time Greg Roman was winning an offense. It was in San Francisco. A guy by the name of Colin Kaepernick comes in takes the league by storm. Colin Kaepernick, I knew you. I still have visions he won me so much money in San Francisco against the Packers, sprinting I'm a gambling guy for Fox, but I'll never forget Kaepernick torching Green Bay in the playoffs. I think back to back years and it was like, holy cow, Colin Kaepernick is the future kind of quarterback in this league. You remember Bill Polian, former Colts GM went on and was like, oh, yeah, Colin Kaepernick an all time great already. But guess what. Greg Roman was the offensive coordinator and after three years the league kind of sort of figured out the offense and Kaepernick did not have an off speed pitch. A ka could not win from the pocket. We're not there with Lamar Jackson. But this is year five of Greg Roman and Lamar Jackson. Guess what when you look around the league and as I said, other quarterbacks have added a receiver. You know, I've been bagging on to a tongue of Valoa for a while. He just hadded Tyreek Hill. So to us, probably gonna improve it. Everybody's gonna say, see to us, great, well, no, no, bleep Sherlock, he just got Tyreek Hill. You look at Lamar Jackson, you kind of do that shrug emojition. Have they not tried, jay Man? But if they haven't tried to get a Tyreek Hill, they haven't tried to get it. DeAndre Hopkins. These are top ten. They would want to get one of those guys. Spending the friggin money back up the brinks. Buffalo did it from Stefan Diggs and Josh Allen is a superstar. They have the money to offer Tyreek Hill. Make the money, make it happen. You got Lamar on the rookie deal. Look that's revisionist history, jay Man, And I'm with you on trying to get him a big time receiver. I've been saying that for almost two years. But they have tried to bring in better receivers and dudes didn't want to come. And one of their guys walked, and Hollywood Brown now is defending Lamar, and that's his friend. They could you can be friends and not want to play with a guy. But he left here. There was no reason for him. Believe well, he did go to college with Kyler, Murrie, everybody. He's played for a few years with Lamar. I'm sure every buddy's too. He chose Kyler because he thinks he throws the ball better. Let's just keep it real. I like Lamar too, but he's got to improve in his passing. And if you not saying that, then you're not doing him any fact. I think we all have to improve it. Something Chris like, Yeah, yeah, of course Lamar needs a little to be better at passing. Remember Josh Allen came into the league as a sprigging project. That's your We all have to improve, Yeah, Josh Allen, impost got the baby to eat a little bit. I need to cut down on the fried foods. Let's compare you definitely being a better path by the way, and you, from what I hear, need to work on your jump. Shot. All right. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd week dayson neun Easter nine am Pacific. Can't wait to ask Eddie House about Jason Tatum versus Kevin Durant. Oh, okay, he played in Boston and now, yeah, no, I'm gonna let you have that first. That can be the first. I just listen again. I don't want to look at historical Kevin Durant, who's a great player. I've said it. He's top fifteen, he was close to top ten. But right right now, he was listening And I'm not talking two years ago. I'm not talking two years ago when he torched Milwaukee in that round for injuries? Why not? Why aren't you because you say injuries are a factor. That he was coming back from the Achilles at that point too, and he was amazing. But guess what this year, what happened though the injury took so much out of you? Well, who are we gonna blame this year? Where was he? He was great? But he was he was not transcendent. He was not tough, fantastic defensive scheme and physical defense. That shows me in the nineties, he would have you know, stop with this nineties garbage. The nineties is the most overrated NBA era ever. The hasiography that goes on pumping up these guys, which was like dumping in the post nine final scores. I get out of here with this. It was the expansion era, Chris. They added six new teams. I know you were watching basketball at that time, Jay Max. So I'm gonna let the ignorant slide is Eddie, Eddie houses here. I'm in the building you. I'm sorry you had to hear that nonsense Eddie before. I'm Jay Mack has a big question for you. But I want to ask you about this because we were talking about it earlier, myself and Jay Mack. Do you think the Warriors, now they got a nice young group of players right cominga pool, Wiseman Moody, should they be willing to break up that young group to get Kevin Durant. No simp as that. You know, yep, you know why. You know why? It is because Kevin Durant came and Kevin Durant went. They championships came, and they championships came back again without him. Why would I jeopardize as great of a player I think, Wiseman is gonna be really good in this league. I think Commena's gonna be good once he starts figuring out the offense and how to within that offense with the players he has. Why would you give up on twenty two, twenty three young players right to bring in a thirty four year old guy that maybe could deliver you something, but it's just gonna cause a whole lot of Let's just say this. Everywhere he's went, Kevin Durant, since he's left Oklahoma City has just been something going. It's been something or something even when he was in Oklahoma City, always been something. And as great of a player as he is. If I'm an organization, I've already want to tile with him. We've seen what had done. We want to title before him, we want to title after him, we want to tidle with him. We don't need to see that experiment again. I would not give up on a future that could see possibly more rings. And it really shows that it's this organization we don't need Kevin. I don't think the Warriors need Kevin Durant as much as Kevin Durant needs the Warriors. Boom Boom, roasted you, Brusard all right, Eddie, let's get to the next question. Let's get to the next one. And this one hurt brus last segment. You know you agree with this one. I'm gonna start questioning you're saying. And you were in Boston. You had a front row seat for the Boston sweep broom action of Kyrie and Kadi, and you know, Chris is like, well, it's kadis still the top five player. I was like, he can be, but he's not right now. I think, Ja, you didn't say that. You said he's a seventh best. I said top seven. And I believe Jason Tatum right now is better than Kevin Durant. They went head to head in that series. Tatum was better at both. I'm gonna stop you right now, Jake Jay you know, and you're my partner, you know you my partner. But no, no way, because then you know, I'm gonna tell you why if you would have dropped Kevin Durant into that NBA Finals against the Warriors and to Jason Tatum out, the Celtics are raising that a banner number eighteen. You know, so it is no question, no if, no fanther bust about it. The one thing about it is that we know what Kevin Durant's gonna bring, I think at that particular moment. And Jason Tatum is a great young player. I love everything about him, you know everything about him. But I feel like at times the moment was too big, and sometimes it happened like that. You don't know what you're in until you're in it, and then when you in it, you're like, WHOA, this is different. Let me figure a way out. And then before you try to figure a way, it's over and you're like, Okay, next time I get in that predigament, I'm not gonna be like that. I'm better off now than I was when I started, And I think that's what Jason Tatum is going to be. I mean, we've seen it with Lebron James and that twenty at twenty eleven finals where it was like whoa, sometimes he looked like a deer in the headlight. But then that following year, that following year after that, and the following year after that, and the you know, it was just like it was non stop after that and he had to figure out sometimes you gotta take a bump on side of the head to know how not to take a lick, and that I think that's what happened. Yeah, Jay mcnee's a bump on side of the like the cartoon. How many lumps do you want? All right? Let look you are in Phoenix, Eddie. Um. They we know they matched the offer for DeAndre Ay. Now, I've got two questions about this situation for you. My first is strictly from a basketball standpoint. Do you like it? I don't think that. I don't know why it took so long. I mean, a guy that averaged seventeen and ten, that helped you get to the finals, that played above and beyond what anybody expected to get to the finals against Milwaukee, and actually played well. He just was put up against a guy like Jannis. And I mean who was stopping Yannis during those playoffs series. Nobody was had him on an island trying to guard him at the top of the key one on one. It's tough to do. It's guy could put the ball on the floor. He's seven feet tall, he could finish at the rim, he could shoot three. DeAndre a was put in a tough situation in the finals, but getting to the finals did everything that you were wanted. The number one player, I mean a number one draft to do and get better every single year. He's seventeen and ten on the career. I don't see why they didn't just get that done before last year, okay, and not have him feeling like I'm playing for another contract. And then I wanted to extend him, and think about it what they did. They extended Miles Bridges before they did him. And this is the number one overall pick. So what message are you sending to that player? And I feel like that is was kind of like the demise of the Phoenix Suns. This playoff run was there was a lot of unanswered questions looming about DeAndre eighteen, and then it was you could hear the rumor mill was saying, does he play hard enough? We don't know if he's mature enough. Well, I mean, look how young he is. I mean, you gotta expect him to be a Kimolajuan when he comes out at nineteen years old. It's not gonna happen. But I think that was the biggest issue. I'm not sure if they're they're matching it, but I'm not sure if he'll still be here. Well, see, I was gonna quickly j mcgi, I'm like, do you okay? So you think they could end up trading him? Obviously it won't be before January, and he has veto power over any trade over the next year. But I was gonna ask you, do they need to do a lot of smoothing things over a lot of massaging, because, as you said, they kind of disrespected him. Well, one hundred and thirty three million, the massage is a whole lot of things he wanted more, though, Eddie. Yeah, at the end of the day, you know, well, I mean nobody, Phoenix, Prilly wasn't willing to give him anything, right, and then so the first first team that offering one one thirty three they like will match that? Cool, you know, because maybe he was askable, but what we know is what he got, and one hundred and thirty three million will smooth out a whole lot of things. He's gonna walk into that building understanding that he is getting compensated for what he has been doing, for being a number one pick and living up to those standards because we've seen a lot of let's not forget, we've seen a lot of guys go number one that ain't put up no numbers at the end of the day they out the league. So, you know, shout out to him for sticking with it, because it's not easy when you're going through that those type of things and to still be able to go out and perform and put up his numbers regardless of what everybody else is saying. People want him to be somebody that he's not. People need to just accept the fact that this is who he is and this is what he brings to the table now looking forward. Can he get better? Yes he can. Everybody can. And he's so young. I think a lot of times we want to just give up on these young players so fast because you expect instantaneous. That's the social media world. You're expecting it to happen right now. It takes time for people to develop, and I think he's been developing every single year. Sons had an embarrassing Game seven home loss by a million points to Luca and the MAVs. Even though they're bringing back eighton, he doesn't seem happy about it, you know, Eddie, I look at the West, I see the Clippers are going to be there, the Nuggets are gonna be there, The MAVs are better than the Sun's Golden State won the championship. I mean, the Son's even top six in the West next year. I mean I didn't even talk about like the Pelicans who didn't have Zion and push them stopping with the Pelicans. They're better than the Pelicans. Okay, will they be battling with the Clippers. Yes, they'll be battling with the Clippers. Do I think that Luca and Dallas caught them in a vulnerable spot not being not understanding like this is a real grind after playing in the NBA Finals, having some of those guys having a very short offseason, then getting right back into it. I think they'll be better than Dallas next year. Obviously, the Warriors. I don't think that they're better than the Warriors. I think that the Warriors are retooled that if to me, the Warriors are the favorite to win it all next year again, and I mean I think that they literally can go back to back. And I'm not just saying that. I'm saying I feel like Deef Curry has put himself on a different level to where we've been talking about all these other players. He probably is the best player in the NBA right now, the most unguardable player. We talk about seven foot Kevin Durant can get it shot off of anybody. Well, we're talking about a six three guy that can get his shot off, can finish at the rim with either hand, that can pass with either hand, that can make the right play, that understands how to play basketball, and he plays winning basketball, and he's unselfish. He might be the best player in the league right now, top ten all time. Before you go yes, and it's no doubt. I watched I watched it up up close and personal, and I've seen how he goes about his work. Let's not say how he gets his shot. You have to be in phenomenal shape, and to be in that that greatest shape late in the season and getting targeted on defense and not really giving up as much as he was when people thought that he that was his weakness. He definitely is a top ten player, no doubt about it. That's our man. Eddie House, the NBA champion. Eddie after a rough start with that first question about KD to the Warriors, that was a spectacular interview. I love the way you, son, Jay on the first question. I just didn't with you on that. With the yeah, I let that go. I let that go. All right, man, have a great weekend, all right. Take care, brothers,