Colin Cowherd Podcast - Bam Adebayo’s 83 Point Game, LeBron + Luka Doesn’t Work, Bears Win Total, Best American Actor?

Summer plan: take my son to Madrid before his classes, then I head home. The sticker shock was brutal—business class for two one-way was sky high—so we’re grabbing coach seats and some sleep instead. When every premium seat is gone on a midweek flight, my gut says parts of the economy are humming.

I’m in for gummies, but my real gauge is the grocery bill and rent. If I feel the pinch, people with less cushion are getting squeezed, and a housing-lottery win in New York can feel like actual salvation, which tells you a lot about the wealth gap. Packed business cabins can be corporate or rich travelers, not a broad indicator.

My kids just rented a gorgeous two-bed in Brooklyn for what feels fair given the neighborhood and amenities, which reminds me I live in a bubble. Still, seeing premium cabins sold out while fares soar was wild.

First class to Japan running around eye-watering money says it all. Travel’s become a luxury sport.

On Bam’s eighty-three, I defended it. Fans love style, and a defensive big bullying his way to a record won’t look as pretty as a guard’s show, but dominance is dominance—Kobe got cheered for hunting history, so why not Bam?

I loved the night, not the ending. Kobe’s eighty-one came in a tight game; Bam’s close was engineered with intentional fouls, challenges, and teammates force-feeding him, which stopped looking like real basketball. Let him finish in the high seventies organically and I’m clapping; normalize that manipulation and someone will be pushed to a hundred.

LeBron’s magic has always been making any partner fit, but next to a ball-dominant star he now has to float off the ball and cover more on defense, and that’s not where he is this season. The lineups with Austin sing; the high-usage pairings don’t, so assuming it clicks just because it’s LeBron feels lazy.

That’s on roster design and age, not a lack of greatness. They look huge and exciting, but the West is too deep; they’re a playoff draw, not a true threat, and we all still talk about them because the brand is massive.

Bears at nine and a half wins feels light to me. Additions, a second-year jump at quarterback, and a friendlier slate set the stage.

I’m bullish too, with caveats. Expect fewer takeaways, some offensive line dings, and not as many late rallies, but the offense has a real ceiling with year-two growth and continuity.

Movie talk: I rewatched One Battle After Another and it floored me. Sean Penn owned every frame with presence and menace, and I’d put him up as our greatest American actor—even standing beside DiCaprio’s brilliance, he pulled my eyes.

It’s a stacked awards year and that performance could snag supporting honors, though Benicio crushed too. Leo’s case is monster—no franchises, standout since he was a kid—and Hanks keeps disappearing into real people, but that Paul Thomas Anderson canvas lets actors do career-defining work.

That long desert-road passage with the tense score shouldn’t work on paper, yet it was hypnotic.

It never dragged and begged for a theater screen, like Nolan epics or Cruise set pieces. Great hang today—loose, fast, and these hours just race by.