Best of the week on The Herd

This is The Best of The Herd on Fox Sports Radio—let’s roll.

Hour two, the NBA’s wrapped after the Knicks took the crown on a Saturday night, and it still feels wild. Quick hits where I was right and wrong: I called the USMNT surge, whiffed big on the Knicks and on Wemby’s readiness, loved OG early, still believe LeBron fits the Warriors’ ecosystem, keep applauding the Chiefs’ cap mastery, see plenty of parity in baseball, and I’m glad grown-ups cooled the overreaction around a college gambling mess. On Brunson, I doubted a small, ball-dominant guard could carry a title team—he proved me wrong.

Brian, Brunson closed like a superstar while Wemby faded—did you see that coming?

I’ve known Jalen since he was a kid and always loved his winning habits, but this level of fourth-quarter poise is special. He doesn’t have elite tools, yet his mindset is up there with the great closers, and that’s what broke the series.

Bigs get squeezed in the finals—does Wemby project more like Giannis or Jokic than a classic low-post center?

He’s not turning into Kareem. Think more Dirk’s journey—early playoff stumbles, then unguardable after growth; there’s a lot of room for Wemby to evolve and this season still counts as progress.

Watching the Knicks made me wonder if they’re a one-off or the favorite—OG’s size, Mitch’s force, KAT’s skill, and all that chemistry stacks up against Boston’s front line.

They’re built for playoff basketball—OG was a heist, and KAT is a tough cover, so I’d make New York the early favorite. The Celtics will look for tweaks, but it doesn’t feel like their style to blow it up.

Would adding Giannis force Boston to ease off the constant threes?

It would change their shot diet, but swapping a prime wing for a 31-year-old doesn’t match their usual approach. The bigger lesson is adaptability—find the right play in tight games, not just the math.

Mike Brown replacing Thibs looked risky; were you surprised how well it worked?

A lot of the ‘new Knicks’ narratives were overblown, but Brown was more flexible and collaborative. He pivoted when calls didn’t work and their defense flipped mid-series, which is why they advanced.

For the next three years, I ranked my build-arounds with Wemby at the top and Brunson lower, even sliding Cooper Flagg in high—what’s your biggest issue?

That list is brutal—I don’t care about prototypes when Brunson just torched the Spurs and closed a title run. Today he’s better than Wemby, and he’s definitely ahead of any high schooler; stop knocking him for being short.

Length still matters and Ant’s two-way ceiling is massive, while magical peaks do happen—this could be Brunson’s.

Even if it’s his peak, he’s led more playoff wins and monster scoring nights than anyone lately, and he walked teams down when it mattered. Build-around choices should start with that production, not a silhouette.

On Wemby, let’s breathe—the finals whistle is brutal inside and the language gap probably made some podium moments sound sharper than he meant.

He’s brilliant, but he talked like winning was inevitable and the finals exposed conditioning, strength, and situational issues. The media’s been way too soft on him.

Quick soccer note—heard the Spain draw did your wallet dirty?

I rolled Knicks winnings into giant favorites and got smacked by a festival of draws. I’m filing for overtime and pricing this watch.

World Cup’s humming—Messi, Mbappe, and Haaland reminded us stars are the system; Lakers face a thin market, and I’ll drop early NFL over-unders later. England and Ronaldo are up next—stay with us.

Great time of year—stream The Herd live or on demand anytime in the iHeartRadio app.