THE HERD – HOUR 3 – ROBERT MAYS I Yaxel Lendeborg vs Luka Doncic

0:00 Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started.

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0:25 What makes us smarter? Athletic Football Show podcast. His name is Robert Mays. We bring him on every couple of weeks. He's been covering the NFL for 15 years. At Robert Mays is his Twitter, and he's in his studio right now, and he's joining us live. He's going to the Bears game tonight, hosting New England as MI. You know, I've said...

0:43 Part of the reason that I really like Drake May and Caleb is they're coachable. And the reason I know Caleb's coachable, and I think it's very hard to be totally coachable when you're gifted. It's easy when you're average. When you're great and you have horsepower, it's hard to be coachable because high school and college, you just did what you wanted to do and it worked. You didn't have to go through your progressions. The fact that Caleb is this accurate, not like 62%, he's this accurate with all that horsepower kind of blows me away. Are you surprised at all? And I'm not saying they're all downfield throws, but it was obviously something you, I, and everybody talked about.

1:20 He's not consistent enough on the layups. Last week, he's 24-24 in a clean pocket. Are you surprised by it?

1:28 I'm not surprised by it. I guess I'm just really encouraged by it.

1:31 This is what you needed to see for this offense to take the step that everyone thought they might be able to.

1:35 Everyone in this city wanted to see them take.

1:37 When you see guys that are inaccurate for stretches of their careers, but were accurate when they were younger. I mean, coming out, Caleb's downfield accuracy was maybe a concern, but anything short and intermediate. That wasn't a problem for him at USC. And so you think, well, why has it been a problem in the NFL? And I think it's just guys that are sped up. They're moving a little bit faster than they want to be. They're not really trusting what they're seeing. Trevor Lawrence was a little bit like this. I mean, early in his career, Trevor Lawrence had bouts of inaccuracy where the ball was sprang a little bit. And I think as you see guys get more comfortable with the offensive system that they're working in,

2:09 more comfortable with the speed and rhythm of the NFL game, that stuff can settle down a little bit. And right now, I think you're seeing that start to happen for Caleb Williams.

2:18 Well, I tend to be a fan of offensive coaches with young quarterbacks, and I'm more offensive coach than defensive coach. But New England has the defensive guy with a guy that doesn't want to leave. Josh McDaniels has missed at head coach. He doesn't want to leave. He's got his kids in school. So that, I think, works. Because usually, as you know, generally you get a Liam Cohen. He has a couple years. He's gone. Dave Canales, he's gone.

2:42 But Josh wants to stay there, and he'll be there as long as Rabel is. So I think that's a real benefit that we don't talk about a lot in the NFL. It's going to be the same offense for years. It got a little clunky, and now it's not. He's on a heater. What have you noticed? What does the data say on Drake now for three games that wasn't happening?

3:03 What was the pivot?

3:05 I think you just saw, I mean, obviously the fumbles are a huge problem, just the turnover-worthy plays in general. But he didn't turn the ball over at a huge rate last year. And so, again, it felt like a little bit of a blip. What is it going to feel like when things normalize? I think they've normalized in that area. And overall, just offensively, the way that they've approached it, It felt a little bit stagnant early in the season.

3:23 And this type of offense can feel that way.

3:25 You know, this is not a system where they're going to use a ton of motions and bells and whistles.

3:30 They're trying to beat you with formations and matchups.

3:32 And I think if you look at some of the window dressing we've seen from the offense over the last couple of weeks, where they're using the backs in interesting ways to kind of create stretch on defenses, they are using a little bit more motion than they were using previously. I just think some of the levers that they're pulling are making things easier for everyone within the offense. And I think that's allowed the quarterback to feel like he doesn't have to be a superhero on every play. And the last part of it has protection. And we were watching the Raider Patriot game here. And I was talking to my co-host there saying, what stood out to you about that game as you rewatched it? And the first

4:04 thing was he was just had tons of time in the pocket. Sometimes it's as simple as that. If you're going to allow guys to operate back there, have time, have space, feel comfortable, you can get very different results. And I think we've seen a lot of that over the last couple of weeks.

4:17 So we know the Rams are struggling. They're the best two and four team in the league. Maybe Houston. I mean, like Houston and the Rams, we know they're talented. Now with Houston, I think that was guys getting healthy. Now Tank Dell's finally coming back. Harrison's come over. Like Houston's got some potency on the sideline now. The Rams are fascinating.

4:38 We love McVay. We love Stafford. eventually you'll get miles Garrett, but we all kind of felt like, well, they're good for now. They've got, you know, they've got their, Oh, now Puna Ford's out. Kobe Turner's out. Miles Garrett's not back. Aaron Donald's been fine, but I don't know if he grades a spectacular. And my takeaway is maybe there won't be a bounce back. They didn't solve special teams issues.

5:00 You don't get mobility out of the pocket. Is it very possible that they were, um, in key spots, getting a little older. I mean, Miles Garrett came in, he was immediately hurt. And Matt Stafford, by the way, they're not running well on first down, so now it's third and long, and he doesn't use his legs. When we look at the data, when we watch the film, does it basically tell us they were just overvalued, we didn't pay attention to age and weaknesses, and they were a little top-heavy, and they've paid a price for it.

5:33 They didn't protect themselves in the offseason. They had a chance to do that in the draft, and they chose not to. They thought that having an off-ramp quarterback was more important than building some depth. And even as you get into the second and third round, Max Claire, the tight end they took in the second round, has been.

5:47 Healthy and active for most of the season.

5:48 And so them not bolstering receiver and offensive tackle specifically, they had a chance to do that, and they chose not to. And I think you're feeling that a little bit from a roster construction standpoint.

6:00 Offensively, I mean, just think about this team right now with KC Concepcion.

6:04 And you're not in a spot now where you're having to panic trade for somebody because Devontae Adams got hurt. Max Ahanachor. So all of the offensive tackles, essentially, were available to them where they were picking in the first round. They chose not to go that route. And offensive tackle has been a concern. Larry Jackson was suspended last week.

6:21 Warren McClendon's a former fifth-round pick that was fine in spot duty last year, but doesn't have the pedigree of a long-term starting tackle in the NFL.

6:30 So I think there were positions that felt a little bit fragile.

6:33 And on offense specifically, last year, this was a team that was always dictating how the game felt, always. They were playing their game. Part of that was the ability to run the ball, be efficient running the ball, always staying ahead of the sticks. This is not a team with the build of the offensive line and the preferences of the quarterback and just the way that the passing game is built that wants to be in a lot of third and six, third and sevens where it's defined pass.

6:58 They're much better when they can be under center anything, any play is available to them at any time. And they're the ones keeping defenses on edge and dictating how that side of the ball is going to go. It hasn't felt that way this year. It's been a lot more shotgun. It's been less play action on early downs.

7:13 I think it's because of how much teams have been blitzing them when they're under center. That's what's happened to a lot of offenses right now. You see offenses getting a little bit spooked when those blitz rates get up near 50% when they're under center and they think, all right, can we move our quarterback back in the gun to maybe allow him to answer some of those, to give him a toolbox to answer some of those problems. The problem is by doing that, you're already playing a game that the defense wants you to be playing. And I think specifically for the Rams, you've seen a lot of that this season.

7:41 Yeah.

7:41 So I've argued on behalf of the Seahawks and Darnold that if Charbonnet and Price come back, they'll have a play-action game. They're fine. They've got the right weapon, the right corner. They've got a pass rush. I love their coach. I'm always a little leery when you lose a great offensive coordinator who replaces him. And it wasn't another hot coach.

8:01 It was a 47-year-old who had been on the defensive side. That worries me a little bit. But I still contend that if Price and Charbonnet were back, you'd have a play-action game. Darnold in his career, Minnesota, Seattle, been very good on play-action. He has no play-action. Nobody's buying the run game. I think it's that simple. Do you?

8:24 I think that's the biggest component to this.

8:26 The way that the offense was constructed last year, where even if they weren't that efficient running the ball, they were always chipping away at it. And they were playing with a lot of heavy personnel, two, three tight ends on the field at the same time.

8:38 Defenses structurally responded to that.

8:41 They were getting single high coverages more than half of the time in 2025, if you look at next-gen stats. This year, it's 39% of their dropbacks. That's the second lowest rate in the entire league. And so teams are just able to play more cloud coverages to JSN side, more soft zone, and the Seahawks are having to contend with that. When you're getting a lot of single high and you're running a lot of play action, it allows you to be super explosive in the passing game. When you're having to navigate more of those two high defenses and there are just fewer big chunks available to you, you have to play the game a little bit differently.

9:14 And I think one of the reasons, the main reason, that our defenses have felt comfortable playing that way is that they do not respect Seattle's ability to hurt them on the ground. And so, and so they can prove to teams that they can do that. I think teams are going to keep daring them to beat them to the way they're having to right now.

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9:50 So we talk about this on the show.

9:52 Young people tend to learn languages much more easily than older people.

9:55 Is that you'll see big.

10:12 Giant steps forward in improvement with young people. You get to be 50, 60, 70. We're in our ways. We don't show you great leaps of improvement, but young people and young quarterbacks do. When Brock Purdy came out of Iowa State, they said he was reckless. And I thought his first two or three years, he was very reckless with the Niners. I thought he was fun. He got dinged up. He put himself in harm's way. The game was very fast compared to the Big 12. But I think you also have to be realistic and fair when you're on the air that there are times where young people grow and they make big leaps. And when I watch Purdy this year, he is a different quarterback than year two. He's not as reckless. He plays with greater confidence.

10:54 I think he's the truck pulling the team. He's not being pulled. Even off script, his data off script, he's making better decisions when to run. So I was real like, eh, it's a Shanahan story. I don't feel that way anymore. What do you see?

11:13 I think that he is doing more of the heavy lifting within the offense than he was before. When he came on the scene in 2023, they were just such a machine. Guys were open all over the place and they still are, right? I mean, this is still an offense that's going to create separation. His superpower, and I remember talking to a coach of another team about this early in his career and how much this coach appreciated watching him truly just process, literally process, where it's in a Shanahan offense, it's pure progression. You're sweeping the board from left to right. You throw the ball to the open guy. He's incredibly good at that. His ability to get from one to two to three to four to five quickly and find that open guy in that space.

11:50 That is a strength of his and it's a perfect marriage of what the offense is asking him to do.

11:54 I think he's better at that.

11:56 I think his confidence and understanding of when to attack tight windows is better than it was. He's still a very good off-script player. And so I think we just see a better version of the guy that we saw initially. And sometimes it's just hard to figure out how to talk about players like that. When guys improve incrementally, it's often hard to know exactly what pace it's happening at.

12:18 It's subtle. It reminds me a little bit of Jordan Love. Jordan Love was good when he started.

12:23 And so I think it's harder for us to appreciate the incremental improvements in his game because they're not obvious. And I kind of think Brock Purdy is another player like that, where we almost don't notice him getting better because there isn't huge leaps. The way there would be with maybe a Caleb Williams or a Josh Allen or some of these other guys where the improvements are much more obvious than they are like a guy for a guy like Purdy in his case.

12:48 So the Rams and Seahawks were going to be Super Bowl favorites and they still have high hopes, but they're struggling and they have really good rosters. And then the Niners and the Chiefs are undefeated. But there are some guys, Kenneth Walker, you cross your fingers with his health. The Niners get banged up. Um, and we have more young GMs than we've ever had in the NFL. And here comes the trading deadline. Uh, do you feel the league is more wide open this year?

13:11 I kind of do.

13:12 And I just look at the Texans to me are a perfect example of this. When the Texans were, when they traded for Marvin Harrison jr, they're one in four and they gave up a second round pick for Marvin Harrison jr. And my thought process with this is man, a second round pick. Jaden Higgins is going to be back next year. How does he fit with Marvin Harrison Jr.

13:31 and Nico Collins? And is that worth giving up for a player like this? Are you even going to be able to salvage this season? And then you watch the way they played against the Jags last week. And if you're Houston, if you're Nick Casario, if you're that staff, why wouldn't you be looking around right now and saying, why not us? Why can't we be that team by the end of the season? It does feel like there's a little bit of a window for somebody to step into.

13:56 And so I understand them seeing themselves that way. If you're the team they played on Sunday, if you're the Jacksonville Jaguars, why can't you win the Super Bowl this year with the team you have on both sides of the ball? I think a lot of teams justifiably should be looking around right now at what they have. And if they have enough strengths, everyone has weaknesses. And they should be saying, why can't we be the team to do it this year? And I honestly think there are probably eight to 12 teams that wouldn't be delusional feeling that way.

14:24 Yeah, I feel the same way. I think there's some obvious sellers. The Colt should be a seller. It feels like to me, the Chargers should be an absolute seller, but I got to tell you that when I watched Houston beat Jacksonville and now they're getting tank Dell back and CJ's plan, that was a great game last week.

14:39 I tell you, I look at Houston. Watch out. Jacksonville, I think Parker Washington and Travis Hunter could be two of the top four athletes in the league. I think Trevor Lawrence is on fire. I think Liam Cohen's great. You can't run on him. If you had to pick a team that nobody thinks is going to win the Super Bowl today, I think it's Houston. I think Stroud's playing way better. Now he's got Marvin Harrison. Now he's got Tank Dell. Houston is my... If there was a Dark Horse team that ended up getting to a conference championship, what are they two and four now? I would say Houston's my pick. Who would yours be?

15:18 It depends on how you'd find Dark Horse.

15:19 Houston's a very good one, but teams that I think were left for dead already this season, and I. Think absolutely could put themselves into the conversation by the end of it. I'm looking at the Packers, the way, the way that Jordan love is playing right now, what they've gotten out of that defense, even without Micah Parsons.

15:36 And I think if they're similar, it's similar with them in Houston. If your quarterback is playing at a certain level, you can figure the rest of it out. Like you should be making a bet on yourself if your quarterback is playing really, really well. And I think Jordan Love and CJ Stroud are two of those guys. And I think that drives each of those teams justifiably looking around the league and saying, why can't we be the team that does this when our guy.

15:58 Is playing at this sort of level?

16:00 It is as always. Great to see you, my man.

16:04 Absolutely. Anytime. Good to see you too. Enjoy the game tonight.

16:07 Yep.

16:07 I will.

16:08 We will. Good one. It's an interesting weekend. Seattle going home and facing with some extra time, facing Kansas City. Detroit and Green Bay is great. Tonight is sensational. Rams, Raiders. We know we said it last week. Keep your eye. Bills, Raiders. Raiders will give them a fight. Well, Buffalo right now is better than the Rams, and that game's got upset written all over it. All right, J-Max around the corner, live in Chicago.

16:38 It's the Herd.

16:40 Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeartRadio app.

16:49 You know, J-Mac, I'm trying to cut down my coffee consumption, four cups a day, trying to get it to two. And I've got to be honest, I had one this morning, and I'm usually looking for my third right about now. I haven't done my second. Not easy.

17:06 Well, now, wait a sec. In Chicago, it's like almost 3 o'clock, 2 o'clock?

17:10 It's 1.41. Yeah.

17:12 Why are you drinking coffee in the afternoon?

17:16 Dude, I drink coffee all day long. I have two in the morning, and then I have one last hour of my show. And then about 5 o'clock, I have a smaller Americano.

17:24 And you still sleep? Oh, it's a melatonin or what are you taking? Magnesium. Magnesium.

17:30 Magnesium G. You heard of Kenny G? This is Magnesium G, and it works. So I thought to myself, and I sleep fine, but I've been trying to cut back. And I've got to tell you something. Years ago, I had to stop eating ice cream and Greek yogurt. just inflammation. I went to a nutritionist like 10 years ago. She said, this is, this is really bad for you. So, uh, I was having five Greek yogurt today. I haven't had one in years. I don't do ice cream anymore. Uh, so that, I thought that was going to be hard.

18:00 I shut that off in one day. No big deal. Never missed it. Coffee.

18:04 It's tough.

18:05 I've been doing this for like three days. It's impossible.

18:08 I can't. By the way, why are you curtailing coffee? What's that all about?

18:11 Well, I mean, five cups. I looked it up, and they're like, you know, heart, five cups could be a tad much. Is this black coffee, or are we doing, what are we doing? Americano, pretty much, maybe half a sugar packet. That's not good.

18:22 It sounds like I need to get warming up in the bullpen here, huh? Sounds like you may be struggling.

18:28 Five cups of coffee. Struggle, boss. Oh, my gosh. J-Mac with the news.

18:36 All right.

18:37 Speaking of bullpens, let's go to the World Series. It starts tomorrow, Friday night.

18:44 The big storyline is the Brewers announced NL Cy Young favorite Jacob Mizorowski will start game one.

18:51 Bucks, sorry, not Bucks.

18:52 Brewers actually had seven days off between the NLCS and the World Series.

18:56 Here's Pat Murphy.

18:58 Talking about how the extended time off was managed.

19:02 Everybody can use a little bit of a break physically for sure. These guys are grinding. Then, you know, you simulate, you emphasize certain things, and you just try to be real.

19:13 And it is what it is.

19:14 It can be an excuse if you let it be, or you can get yourself ready. Mentally, you can get yourself ready to play. And it might take you a minute, but, you know, that's not going to be an excuse. At this time of year, the excuses are not tolerated.

19:29 Well, the weather's good. The key is the weather. I don't think the time off. You know, what you don't want is five, six days off and it's 12 degrees. Like when you get into late October, November, you get bad weather weekends. We have been going through, at least in Chicago and Milwaukee's north an hour on the train.

19:46 But we have been going through about an 18-day stretch of literally perfect blue sky, 60-degree weather or higher. So the good news for this World Series is the weather is going to be good. So you get these games, you know, you get these games. Milwaukee, late October, you cross your fingers. That Wisconsin Badger-USC game, great weather. Brewers-Rays, great weather. It's all good. You get good baseball if the weather's good.

20:14 Big weekend in Wisconsin, and I'm sure the Dells will be popping off.

20:17 They will.

20:18 Keep hearing great stuff. Too bad the Bucs stink.

20:21 They are absolutely atrocious. How's that football team in Wisconsin doing?

20:26 How are the Packers doing?

20:27 Fraudulent they have turned the corner i think there's a lot of hope it's not very long flight to detroit but a 45 minute flight hour flight they're going to be rested they're going to be ready to go they're going to be feeling it they got i think green bay is going to be fine i'll.

20:40 Go brewers in five what's your pick brewer six wouldn't surprise me i mean.

20:47 Tampa have like a a fan base at all Well, it's weird.

20:51 So I worked in Tampa. Vince Namoli, when I was there, was the owner. It's a different owner now. And because of the extreme heat in the summer, you've got to have a dome. So they built it in St. Petersburg. The land was cheaper, trot field. And it's a hard place to get to. So St. Petersburg downtown is not St.

21:09 Pete Beach. It's a drive from Clearwater. It's a drive from Tampa. So the new stadium is going to be over in Tampa. That's where the Buccaneers play. So I always thought it was kind of a– I wasn't from there, but I lived there for two years. It's a little bit of a strange market. The Tropicana Field is now St.

21:23 Pete downtown is much nicer today than it was 20 years ago. Much nicer. It wasn't great at the time. They're moving the stadium. They should. It's just harder to get to. You're going across the bridge. Traffic can be awful getting to their games. So I think they're going to get rid of that. I think the new location will help. It's a great spring training market. It's not proven to be a great major league baseball market. And it should be because you've got the Yankees and Red Sox in division. Yeah. And so those are popular national brands, but they've struggled with attendance and interest for years.

21:56 Yeah, I saw something that Brewers, you said, is toughest ticket, tougher ticket than the Super Bowl. Apparently in Tampa, 70 and up, you get in free. I don't know, because it's one of those, you know, old people. We just want to help you guys out in Florida. You're a real estate mogul in Florida, aren't you? No, I am not.

22:15 But I lived in Tampa for about a year and a half, two years. And there's baseball fans. I always thought it was an underrated hockey market and not much of a baseball market. Great NFL and college market.

22:27 I've heard also the After Hours strip clubs are fantastic.

22:32 I wouldn't know. That's out of my domain.

22:34 Yeah, it was known for that for years. Ybor City is a good time. It was known kind of as a legendary– Party city, yeah. Nighttime. Burns Steakhouse is great. That's a legendary. Biggest wine collection at one point in the country for any restaurant. Yeah.

22:49 What are you doing? Promotional stuff here for Tampa? Goodness gracious.

22:53 Let's move on to the big Lamar Jackson news. Biggest NFL story here in the last two hours. He is practicing today and the markets are moving as if he's going to play. I don't know what to do with this It is a big game, Colin. And if Lamar is going to suit up, that is significant. We saw Snoop Hundley's limitations after the opening scripted drive last week.

23:14 I will tell you, the Bengals has been the play with me all week. Should I bail now? Bengals is the sharp side. Should I just get out of it?

23:24 Yeah, I mean, you can't do four for the Blazin' Five, so you're going to have to replace them with somebody else. But why can't the Bengals win this? Bengals, you saw their practice video yesterday.

23:33 Extra time. Offensive coach, Burrow, extra time, healthier.

23:38 Zach Taylor, I can't say. I mean, listen, I'm going to be nice to the Bengals the rest of the year. I told your producer, Ryan, why? But I'm not going to say nice things about Zach Taylor. I don't trust that guy. I wouldn't trust him to pick up my mail when I was on vacation. Listen, look at his numbers off of by Colin. He's not a good coach. OK, now, I don't know if the immortal mentor Doyle combo is going to be able to pull it off. But this has huge ramifications in that division. This is a big one because some people are saying Pittsburgh could be in trouble against the Saints. And we know the Browns Titans game is going to be squirrelly. So this division is is low key interesting, as the kids like to say.

24:17 J Mac with the news.

24:19 Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the herd line news.

24:23 So, um, last night, the Lakers played the warriors and it's Lucas team now. And Yaxel Lindenborg was that really good player. I think he played at like a directional school in Alabama. Then he went to Michigan. It was a very good player. A little bit of an older college player. Won a natty with Michigan, a big wing player, aggressive, kind of cocky, um, very good player, NBA player. No doubt.

24:46 He was guarding Luca last night and it was, it was a trash talking Fiesta. I mean, that was intense. The rookie against Luca. And, and by the way, Luca complains like nobody he's annoying, but, uh, Here was Luka. So after the game, Yaxel says, I don't respect him. I've lost all respect for Luka. He never stops complaining.

25:09 I have no respect for the guy. That's what the rookie said about Luka. And here's what Luka said after the game.

25:16 He was talking crazy. But, you know, I wasn't trying to talk back, you know, this season. I tried to get texts. So it was the first time that was not a double tap because I didn't say nothing. So I'm working on it. But as you see, I think it worked great.

25:31 Now, a lot of people, J-Mac said, I don't like my rookies talking trash talk. You got to respect the veterans. Draymond Green said, oh, no, you don't. Everybody's going to be like, oh.

25:43 Man, he shouldn't talk to Luka.

25:45 You should not talk to Luka. And I disagree with that. One thousand percent. Don't talk to somebody you talk until you can't talk no more. And if you bust your ass, guess what? You play him again three more times, and you go back at his ass again. And then you see him a third time, and you go back at his ass again. I think in this league, everybody always be like, oh, man, certain guys you got to respect.

26:07 I ain't come in this league like that with respect.

26:08 You are respected.

26:11 Yeah, I mean, I think it's good for sports. I mean, it didn't throw blows. I think you have Luke as a star. First of all, Lakers-Warriors are rivalry. Luke is a star. And Yaxel's like, you know, I'm going to go right after you. I just like the fact that Yaxel wants to play defense. He wants to go guard him.

26:25 He wants to play that hard. And, you know, Luka can manipulate virtually anybody on the planet. So he's a hard guard. He's big. He's thick. He's got that start and stop game. He's a great offensive player. I mean, he was dominating the Euros when he was 16 years old. So he's a great offensive player. I just like that Yaxel's like, yeah, I'll guard him. I'll trash talk him.

26:46 I won't back down. I love that.

26:49 I mean, just.

26:50 My knock on Golden State is, why didn't they go find wings like this five years ago? Warriors are fascinating because in the Curry ecosystem, the guys that worked were Kevin Durant, great basketball acumen. Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut. Whenever they brought old veterans to this group, they always fit.

27:16 They almost always fit because they could keep up with this Steph Curry off-ball movement. James Wiseman didn't work. You know, the young players, Jordan Poole didn't work. Kaminga never fit. So it's like... What I like is Yaxel came out of college as a bit of an older college player. So he's a more mature player. He transferred in college.

27:39 Dusty May now is coaching in the NBA. He had a high level coach. I mean, that's why Draymond Green always works in the system because he played for years at Michigan State under Tom Izzo. He was a grizzled college guy. So it's a weird system where, you know, you've kind of had to fit with Draymond and Steph.

27:55 And I wish they would have gotten guys like Yaxel four years ago because they I think now it's just all nostalgia and romancing history, and I don't think they're a viable team. But I don't mind– and I think basketball's culture is trash-talking. I think it– in my entire life– Larry Bird talked more than any trash talk. Kobe was a trash talker.

28:19 Yes, but they weren't talking trash in their first year in the league. And I will point this out. Draymond Green's like, oh, blah, blah, blah. I don't respect anybody. Hey, you didn't respect your teammates. Kevin Durant, you didn't respect him. That's why he left. You didn't respect Jordan Poole and you punched him out. So I don't want to hear anything from Draymond Green. And I'll just say this about Jordan Poole. I know he gets a lot of grief.

28:37 They don't win that title against Boston without Jordan Poole. He had a great postseason run so much so that he thought he was the man and deserved all the money. And, you know, it unraveled there. But like the history of the Warriors, you are spot on. They messed up Wiseman badly.

28:53 That was also in fairness, it was a terrible draft.

28:56 It was a bad draft, but LaMelo Ball went third. I know he's goofy, but he's good.

29:01 He's a good player. They couldn't take the ball out of Steph Curry's hand, so LaMelo wasn't the answer. Since 2019, Luka leads the NBA in technical fouls. So when Yaxel says, I don't respect him, he's a trash talker. And Yaxel said that, that's just what he, people forget this. Magic Johnson never stopped complaining to officials. Michael Jordan never stopped complaining to officials. LeBron complains to officials.

29:25 The entire OKC team, watch them. Every single play, officials, where's the call?

29:30 All the time.

29:31 Patrick Mahomes does the same thing when you touch him in the pocket. Like, come on, this is a thing for stars.

29:36 Come on, you know that. And by the way, Yaxel apparently was telling Luca.

29:40 He sucks.

29:41 Like, guarding him and saying, you suck. You didn't score. You suck. Come on, man.

29:45 We're talking about one of the best scorers in the history of the league. And you're telling me he sucks?

29:49 But doesn't this make you want to watch their next matchup? Yeah, 100,000%.

29:51 I want to see him go against LeBron. Talk tough like that against LeBron. You're not going to do that.

29:57 Well, LeBron's not a fighter. I don't think he's ever.

29:59 No, you're not. But you're not going to talk like that to LeBron. The greatest player in basketball history.

30:04 Well, you can. You can at LeBron's... I mean, you can do whatever you want.

30:08 But, okay.

30:09 I mean, you're really endorsing this?

30:11 I am.

30:15 I think Brooks is like this. Draymond in his prime was like this. There's plenty of guys in the NBA that get under your skin. Rodman did this. Is Yaxel that guy? I think he is with a little more offensive skill.