The Herd with Colin CowherdColin hypes up JJ Redick for finally cracking the LeBron James code! Tom Brady reached out to Matt Stafford about playing for the Raiders. Ratings are up in the NBA after Luka makes his way to the Lakers. Kevin Durant nixed a trade at the deadline claiming he's too big to trade mid-season. Plus, Colin brings you his Dynamic Dozen Players & Personalities in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago!
Guest: Dan Woike - NBA Reporter
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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver on Fox Sports Radio.
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All right, here we go, all firing, all cylinders, no breaks, all gas, or something like that, Live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. What a showcase. It was ended up being a really good basketball game. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, Thanks for making us part of your day. So it should be noted. Lakers Luca Lebron against the Mavericks's old team, The Mavericks. All their bigs are hurt. It feels like, so the Laker's got a lot of alley utes. Jackson Hayes feasted. He would not get that if they were fully staffed. So you have let's add some context. Dallas's bigs were out, so it was a very small team that really helped Jackson Hayes. But I have two big takes on what was a weird night. There was a lot of emotions a weird night. Number one is JJ Reddick. It's official has figured out the Lebron code. Is that for years and years we've been trying to kind of figure this out. How do you move Lebron off ball? He's figured it out and they tried it with Ad it didn't work. The Lebron Luca code. One's a quarterback, one's a wide receiver. Luca's gonna control the tempo, control the pace, control the game. He's gonna play quarterback. And then and Luca can really fill up the box score. First half he was like Dennis Rodman. He was dominating the glass. Second half he got some scoring. But twelve assists tells you how much and how often Luca had the ball. And he is a very deft passer, especially trying to find players down the floor. He's a great outlet guy, a great down the floor passer. He is running the show. So that's the first thing you know. This is not Darvin ham with frustrate Laker fans. Does he know offense? JJ Redick knows offense. We got five games. It took Eric Spolstra about a dozen games to figure out Lebron and d Wade, and Spolstra is an all time coach. I think JJ Reddick has figured out Lebron Luca in about six games. I think he figured it out in Denver, and he figured it out last night. And my number two take is that allows Lebron and I talked about this yesterday, to have these five and six minute energy spurts where he's just remarkable. But what I watched last night, I've already texted one of Lebron's guys. What I watched in the fourth quarter last night is the greatest performance I've ever seen by an old NBA player in a meaningful game. In the fourth quarter, Lebron was easily the best player on the floor. I could not believe what I was watching. Sixteen points racing down the floor, making defensive stops. Ali Hughes, I've never seen an old man fourth quarter like that in a game that had some relevance. It had some resonance. They're trying to get the Luca Lebron thing right. It's Luca playing as old team. If you had never seen Lebron James play, if it wasn't for his hairline, let's be honest, you would have watched that fourth quarter and thought, who the hell is this twenty six year old He's amazing. I could not believe what I was watching. His energy was a notch above every other player on the floor, and he's the old guy. Even on that tip, he positioned himself aggressively, he got the tip, then folwed up with a game clinching shot, and both Lebron and Luca. One of the things that's really obvious, how happy, how joyful Lebron looks. This is bad for the NBA. I today five games, I would sign Lebron to a two to three year contract. You can see. It's like a kid that gets a new bike at Christmas. He is a new ice hockey game. He is so happy, he is so joyful. They tried for a year, he loved Ad, but AD can't initiate offense. AD's not a quarterback. He was like the best tight end in the league, and Lebron then had to play quarterback. Now Lebron can get up the floor, conserve energy, wait until they need him for five and six minutes spurts. And I'm telling you, I sat and watched that fourth quarter. I could not believe what I was watching. He was so far and away the best player on the floor. And I know Dallas was missing Biggs. He was getting shot to the BA. Ask it he would normally not get I'm baking that in. I understand that, But I think JJ Reddick has figured it out. I think it happened faster than the d Wade Lebron convergence. I think it happened about the same time. I think Kyrie and Lebron figured it out pretty quick in Cleveland. But there's a Magic Kareem feel to it, where Magic runs the show. But if you got to about four minutes left, Magic gave it to the big fella you drop in the skyhook. Now, there are obviously much different games. Luca is a much better scorer than Magic, and Kareem doesn't run the floor like Lebron Old Kareem doesn't. But there is a magic Kareem field to it where hey, Luca, magic gonna run the show. Both great passers, both can score, both just tremendous self awareness on the tile. But we're gonna give it to the big fella down late, the old big fella, and he's gonna clean stuff up. And I mean, JJ Reddick talked about it and Luca after that was fun to watch. And what I saw was energy, happiness, joy. I'm telling you, I don't know if I've seen Lebron this happy since the championship year in Cleveland. I mean, that's what it looks like. His body language, his energy, it's palpable. Here's the coach Luke after.
He gives off a certain level of joy, and I feel that joy and it gives me joy.
That's just how it's always been.
Him and I communicated the very first day he got to LA was just like, are you comfortable being coached with honesty? And he said yes, Are you comfortable being coached with direct communication? He said yes, that's that's what I would And I said, okay, great, and you and I are gonna be good.
And it has been.
The closure is going to take a while thing.
I know, I just.
It's not ideal. But you know, like I said, I'm glad this game is over. You know, there's a lot of emotions. Uh, we'll go love by little, you know, and every day is better.
That's a fun watch, isn't it amazing? Butler to the Warriors, Luca to the Lakers. You look up and you're like, maybe they won't have a TV rating problem next three months in the NBA. So let's be honest. Obviously, Nico Harrison's legacy, this is not going to do it any favors. But this needs to be said about the Luca trade. We have to be fair. If a d was healthy and he'll be back in a couple of months for the Mavericks, it may be too late. But if Ad was healthy, Dallas is an excellent team. Okay. First of all, Kyrie Irving now gets the ball in his hands more often. He's magical. He is the greatest six to two closer in league history. He is, in my opinion, he is the most skilled basketball player in the world. Left hand, right hand, outside mid range floaters. I've never seen a player like him. This is not a revelation. Everybody knows this, but now that he gets the ball, more holy whatever. The kid's magical number two is. AD's a perfect fit with him. In the one game they played together, Ad took the Rockets to the Cleaners. He dominated twel He's six sixteen and seven Eighty's a perfect fit. He'll anchor the back line, he'll anchor the defense. He doesn't need the ball in his hands. So Kyrie and Ad are actually, you could argue a better fit than Kyrie and Luca, because Kyrie is not a great defensive player. Luca's worse, and Ad doesn't need the ball in his hands. That's better for Kyrie. And he's a great defensive player. I think he's the best defensive player in the league. And here's the other thing. Dallas has got a lot of very good supplemental or role players. PJ Washington, Klay Thompson was hot as hell last night. Spencer Dinwood, He's always been a pro, Max Christy, Derek Lively when he comes back now two or three months. Generally, young athletes he's young get healthy faster than you think. But Dallas, actually I think their roster fits better than the Lakers. Lakers have more playmakers. Between Austin Reeves, Luca, and Lebron, they are top heavy on playmakers. But I would argue the Dallas Mavericks have the best enter rotation in the league when everybody's healthy. I think their pieces fit really, really well. And if Ad wasn't hurt. I mean, it's a lopsided trade because of Luca's greatness and his age, But if Ad was playing right now, I think Dallas is good enough to win the West. I really do. I really like Dallas. I think Jason Kidd's done an unbelievable job. Kyrie Irving gets the ball more, and it's just a bunch of There's a lot of depth, there's a lot of good rotational supplemental players. I like Dallas Hill last night they got no size. Lakers had their number one rebounding game of the season. Jackson Hayes is eating nobody to guard the ten, and they hung around. They just hung around. I mean, Luca has so much respect for Kyrie. When he got matched up with him in the fourth quarter, it's almost like he just waved the flag. It's like this is not gonna end well. So we can bag on Dallas all you want, if Ad was healthy, this is he was a really well constructed basketball team. And I thought their effort last night was surprisingly good. And here's the coach after.
I thought we did a great job of the emotion of the game, understanding what our game plan and our job was. This terrifying way to win. We put ourselves in a position came up short, but I thought the guys fought as you brought up. We were down sixteen, and we didn't let go of the rope. We kept fighting and found our way into this game and could have win either way. But they were the better team tonight.
I'll just say this. Lakers got a big lead in the first half. That game could have been over at half. Dallas kept hitting threes. Klay Thompson was huge. I mean, Dallas had every reason to pack it in. I thought it could be a bloodbath, and it got real close with about four minutes and a half. I thought this gonna be a blood bath, and Dallas just scratched and clawed and fought with none of their biggs. I mean, they could have lost by thirty and you'd have just said, yeah, yeah, That's why I thought it was gonna be a bloodbath. So Lakers may have won the trade. Dallas is well constructed. That is a well constructed team.
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So I thought this was notable. There's been a lot of talk about Matt Stafford being interested in leaving. I'm told he's not interested in leaving, but he wants more years and more money than the Rams will give him. And a lot of the teams out there, you know, the Giants, tire fire coach GM in the hot seat, Steelers tone deaf to offense, Cleveland yach not interested. The Raiders thing is interesting. So there's a story this morning that Tom Brady reached out to Matt Stafford and said, would you consider us? I just want you to say this out loud, because the NFL's magic potion, more than any sports league, is immediate hope. I mean, go to the Rams, pre McVeigh, the Texans, pre CJ. Stroud, the Commanders before they flushed everybody out, they were a laughingstock. So the idea of the Raiders could turn it around. Just say this out loud. Pete Carroll, Matt Stafford, Chip Kelly, OC, Max Crosby, elite pass rusher, and Brock Bauers an unbelievable once in a generation tight end. That's pretty interesting. And they also landed probably a ten year center last year in the draft, the highest reted center. They look to be pretty good at offensive tackle. So there's two things Tom Brady can sell. Number one, no state tax in Nevada. California has thirteen and a half percent money matters. Don't listen to anybody no state tax. Number two, the Raiders will give you more years and much more money. Telling you the difference between a two year deal in LA and a four year deal with the Raiders could be seventy million dollars. You have to consider that this. I've said this with the Raiders, they check a lot of boxes. Now, they've got a head coach, they have a left tackle, they've got an elite weapon, they've got an elite edge rusher. Are they wonky upstairs? Yep, they are, absolutely But Chip Kelly and Pete Carroll give you a legitimate coaching staff. So I mean Pete Carroll. When people asked why Pete Carroll would take the Raiders job don't think Tom Brady doesn't have an influence Tom Brady.
It starts there when Tom wanted to do this and he wanted to be part of this thing, that changed my outlook on what could be possible. I've found out since how consistently he is a great competitive mentality and spirit, and he passed it right through to the rest of the ownership groups that has been incredibly fired up in Jack to do something special.
I always talk about, do you check four or five boxes in this league? Head coach, offensive coordinator, left tackle, quarterback, one great weapon, pass rusher Matt Stafford shows up. Raiders check all those boxes. They're a little better than people think. Defensively, they were all beat up last year, but they gave Kansas City fits two times they played them. So this one, this is a much better opportunity than New York. You're playing indoors, no state tax, You've got a brand new coaching staff. I get Chip Kelly and Pete Carroll. That's attractive to me. And the Raiders who give you three or four years rams are not going to do that. The Raiders would give you fifty million rams, may not do that. So now now this also makes me think, I think, and I'm serious on this, money is something for Matt all right, He's not going to get all the Super Bowl trophies. Folks. The difference between living in California and living Nevada state taxed. If they give you an extra year or two, that could be a seventy five million dollars swing, you'd be You gotta do your due diligence on that stuff. I know you don't think that matters. The media has always said it doesn't matter. It matters to agents and players. It matters to every business guy in the country. What are the regulations, what's the state tax? What are housing prices? I'm just telling you the Raiders is a very very interesting fit. And I think Sean mcvahan less sneed and Stan Kronky, No, that's the one that scares him. That's the one. I mean again, he would he would be going to the other conference. You wouldn't have to face him regularly. That one I'm gonna keep my eye on. And this makes me believe that Aaron Rodgers. Again, what have I said about Aaron Rodgers in terms of fit? The Rams are great, bad coaching staff, the great coaching staff, Aaron fitting with the Rams Stafford of the Raiders. It makes sense for a lot of reasons. If and I don't think he wants to. If Matt Stafford.
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So I went on a rant yesterday and I'm gonna double down on it. In my life, political parties and sports leagues are cyclical, almost all cyclical. A political party, the Democrats had lost three straight elections, they gotten blown out, and then Bill Clinton arrived and oh changed everything. They had their guy. This is the reality. I saw the ratings for ABC up twenty nine percent when Luca and Lebron played, and oh, by the way, last night TNT wait till those ratings come in, that'll be up forty percent year to year. Again. Sometimes for political parties and leagues, it's just circumstantial, right person, right time. Look what Caitlin Clark did to the WNBA. One player to the WNBA changed changed how they fly around the league. Now they got private jets. So Luca plus Lebron plus the Laker brand is good for the league, right now there are four really good teams in this league. Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Warriors are four of the seven or eight good teams. Huge brands. When you add Jimmy Butler to staff, to Steve Kerrn, the Warriors brand. I'm sorry. Milwaukee, Cleveland and Oklahoma City can be good teams, they can't carry the NBA. I remember when Tim Duncan and the Spurs were dominating the league. The ratings were in the tank. I remember when Michael Jordan left fifty percent loss in ratings. You had Iverson, you had Marbury, the audience didn't buy him. The ratings disappear. Baseball show Hao Tawny to the Angels, eh show Hayo Tanny to the Dodgers changed the ratings last year. When you get Jim Harbaugh to Michigan, If Jim Harbaugh goes to Purdue, it doesn't feel the same. When you get Jim Harbor in Michigan. It changed the Big Ten ratings. So I've said this before. Everything outside of the NFL is cyclical. Republicans are cyclical. The Democrats are the political right now. The Democrats are reeling like hyper aggressive Trump and Elon Musk. Democrats are flailing. What do we do? They're complaining, they don't have a plan. They need their guy, they need their Trump or Clinton, whoever it is. And the putting Luca on the Lakers with Lebron, putting Jimmy Butler, who's a star in this league, and because he's played in Philadelphia and Miami and now Golden State with Steph, he's a star in this league. It's gonna change the ratings. I'm not saying they're gonna I'm not saying everything's gonna change. The NBA still has challenges too many three pointers, seven game playoffs series and the first round are stupid. But Sportico came out this morning with the most valuable teams in American sports. The Cowboys were one. You know what. Number two was? Warriors, three Knicks four Lakers. Brands matter for every league except the NFL. And when you have stars on the Warriors, stars on the Lakers, star ours on the Celtics, stars on the Knicks, take a deep breath. The NBA is going to survive. It's cyclical. They lost half their ratings when Jordan left and the players that replaced him, the consumers didn't like or didn't buy you know, the consumers weren't into Tim Duncan and the Spurs. They just weren't. They were a great deep they weren't into him. But New York, Jalen Brunson, Steph Butler, Lebron, Luca, Jimmy, you know it works. They're gonna be fine. Take a deep breath, Gonna be fine. Coming up next. We were thinking about this this morning as I'm watching Luca and Lebron play, and it was a real event. And we've we've talked about this that America has become more of an event culture because our phones and were distracted and TikTok, and so you got to you gotta create urgency. Last night felt urgent. But I was thinking about they were showing shots of the crowd the three biggest cities in America, New York, LA and Chicago. Why is La getting all the stars? And I want to take all three of those markets and give you an example. Next live in La, It's the Hurt.
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Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David, and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the iHeartRadio app.
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The Fastest Racing on Earth is coming to Fox the twenty twenty five Indy Car Season gets underway in Saint Petersburg, the first stop on the road to the Indy five hundred Sunday at noon Eastern live on Fox.
I bet that's another place I've been doing. You've never been to. You've ever been to Saint Petersburg. The beach is down there, Russ Show, Saint petersborog No, Saint Petersburg, Florida. Oh No, I've not been there. There used to be, Uh, there's been a there's a couple of good sports bars down there. They used to have this pink hotel. I can forget the name of it.
Well, am I missing in Saint Peter's is all You're missing?
And you're missing the top twenty five. It's a beautiful beaches. The downtown is way upgraded over when I live there. Actually, maybe the hotels the Viceroy. So you lived in Tampa, I lived in the old joke was the oldest people in the country live in Tampa. Their grandparents live in Saint Petersburg. So when I lived there, it was a little old. But it's not quite as crusty, and it's there's a lot.
Going on, like the Mets have preseason or something there.
It used to be the Cardinals. So I was I was watching the Lakers in Luca last night, and it's an event. It felt like an event. And and you know, I was spending some time in Chicago. They're sports right now in a really tough spot. Like nothing in Chicago was good, like nothing, NBA, Baseball, NFL. And I'm just watching last night and I'm thinking it has been such a crazy five or six year run in Los Angeles for just the coaches. I mean, I mean Freddie Freeman is a great baseball player. He gets lost on the Dodgers. I mean it is in sat Clayton Kershaw is are you our generations? Sandy Kofax? And right now I wouldn't put him in the top twelve most well known needle movers in Los Angeles. I was thinking about this this morning. If you took New York, LA and Chicago, and I would call it the dynamic dozen, the biggest, most well known personalities. You know, they're obviously great players, but like they have a presence about them, and I would give you twelve. Number one is sho Heo Tani. He's a global superstar. He's gonna make eight nine figures overseason endorsements, forget about here. The Dodgers average four thousand more per road game than anybody else, and a lot of that is sho Heo Tani. He's our bay Ruth. He pitches this year, he'll return to pitching. He can steal bases, he's good looking. He is your classic, you know, Rinaldo Messi. I mean, if you go look at what Messi did to the MLS in Miami, it's unbelievable what he did to attendance, ratings and merch that sho Heo Tani. Number two is Lebron James, and he is a notch below show Hey Otani. But again, Lebron is a global superstar because unlike the NFL, basketball is a global sport. So show Hey and Lebron James are one and two. I would put Luca again, comes from Europe. He is a global superstar and this trade now will just magnify his brand. So I think the first three you can't argue. It's show Hey, it's Lebron and Luka Doncic. Now we can argue. I would say number four, who's been a star in sports for twenty five years is Jim Harbaugh. Folks. He quarterbacked in the NFL. He coached at Michigan. He got the Niners to a Super Bowl. He literally went to the Big ten and changed the ratings. Remember in football coaches or rock stars. Andy Reid is all over commercials. You don't see baseball managers and a lot of NBA coaches, even like a Greg Popovich, you don't see him doing national commercials. Jim Harbaugh is polarizing. He is a rock star. I'd put number five Aaron Judge, who has had multiple national commercials. He does not feel as global to me, even close to Shoeyo Tawny, but he has prodigious power. He's got a Paul Bunyan. He's a good kid, he's good looking, easy to root for. Had a bad fifth inning in the World Series, but I mean playing in New York. He is a notch below show hey, but I would put him at number five. I would put number six Matt Stafford, good looking star quarterback in Los Angeles with a Super Bowl trophy and now the talk of the town because of his contract. The last pure pocket passer. Again, a guy with national commercials. It's the NFL. He's one of the five best quarterbacks. Maybe I should have him above Jim Harball. But Harbaugh has been you know, I mean a lot of Stafford. He was lost in Detroit for twelve years in a division with Aaron Rodgers in farv and nobody talked about him. So I think Stafford's national exposure with the Rams has popped the last five years. I'd put Stafford at six. I'd put Sean McVay a notch below him at seven, considered the best young football coach in the world. And I mean McVay had Amazon willing to pay him twenty million dollars a year. That's more than a pay Al Michaels. I mean, think about that. They were gonna pay him twenty million dollars a year. I don't think at Fox we pay people that much, Okay, like for our NFL. So McVay is a rock star, a culture builder. Again, he's telegenic, he's like got photographic memory. He's one. He's probably the best talker at the podium I've ever seen in the NFL. He's magnetic. I would put number eight Wan Soto. Now he plays for the second most notable team in New York. But again, he is I mean, he's he's Juan Soto. There are arguments to be made on any given week. You know, he's baseball's best player. He's patient, he gets walks, he hits with power. He's a star. And because he left the Yankees and went to the Mets, he's now polarizing, and that is a big factor on this list. A lot of people on this list are love hate Lebron's got a little bit of that. I think Juan Soto and New York's got a little bit of that. I'd put him at eight nine. I'd put it Mookie Betts mostly because he's not polarizing now. He is a former Boston Red Sox. I think this kid's ad unbelievable. Three time World Series champ, plays for two of the three biggest brands in the sport, Dodgers in the Red Sox. Still can't figure out why Boston gave him away. They didn't get enough in return. But I mean, he'll play shortstop. Is he the most skilled baseball player? He can play shortstop, he can play outfield. You can put it. You could bat him leadoff, you could bat him clean up. I think Mookie Betts is number nine. Number ten, I'd put Caleb Williams. He's a rock star between usc and the number one pick. Again, this is not just productivity. He's a good looking kid. He's in front of the mic, he plays in Chicago. He feels like I mean, let's be honest, we said this, You said this, J Mack. Before last year, the Bears were the most interesting team in the league. It wasn't because of Montez Sweat. It wasn't because of Roman Dunza. The Bears were arguably the fascinating football team in the league last year because a one person. It was not Matt Eberflus. It was Caleb Williams. I'd put him at ten, number eleven, the very quiet, reticent Justin Herbert. Again, Justin Herbert is a quarterback in the NFL and considered one of the five best young quarterbacks in the league. The Chargers are the second most popular organization, but I think Harbaugh helps his brand. I think Jim Harbaugh helps Herbert, who's a really quiet, behind the scenes kid. I'd put him in eleven and number twelve. You may think this is weird, I'd put Rick Patino in. I think Rick if you ask basketball people, they'll tell you Rick Patino is arguably behind Red Arbach and Phil Jackson is the best coach in the sport. Ever, the fact that he goes to Saint John's will not recruit high school players. And this would you be shocked if Saint John's ended up in the Elite eight. Rick Patino is just as great, a magnetic again, major polarizing guy. He's led five different teams to the NCAA tournament. And you know how many people since Louis carnaseca left, people have been trying to get Saint John's to work forever. Here comes Rick Bettino. Bam, They're great. So I would say these are the most the dynamic. Now, if Rick Patino was younger, if he was at Kansas, he maybe five or six. When Rick Patino was at Kentucky, Rick Patino was there was an argument the biggest rock star in coaching in America, and I'm counting NFL. He was everything. And there was about a twenty year stritch and then they have some personal stop blah blah blah. But the now Freddie Freeman I had at number thirteen, the Dodgers great former Atlanta Brave again Braves, Dodgers, big brands.
Oh you're my guy.
This may be the best list ever produced for a television show.
So there's this guy who plays basketball in LA who has a very famous beard.
He's been an.
Amazing talent, global superstar.
He can't walk around in China because he's such a big deal. James Harden does not make this list.
No, nobody likes James Harden.
What what what do you talk?
Can you get? What's his family base? Besides uh like fanboys? First of all plays for the Clippers. Second of all is he's playing tonight. Third of all, he's way past his prime. If you look at all these guys right here, do you notice something?
Yeah, Rick Bettino's seventy nine years old and still crushing.
He is crushing. James Harden's playing well, I'm not sure James Harden's home from the clubs last night. Not honestly, he's known for scoring in that. Am I wrong on that? You're not wrong? You know you tell me that James. People are sold their stock on James Harden. They have sold their stock on Kawhi Leonard. That's fair, that's fair. They have said if once seven years ago, James Harden's probably six on this lift.
I guarantee you one soda could walk onto this fox lot take an elevator all the way up to here, and no one person will be like, oh my gosh, it's one Sodo. But if James Harden did that, his recognition because he's been around for okay, every popularity's not James.
But he's not relevant at all. He's not one of the twenty best players in the NBA. He not even close anymore right now? Oh god, not even close. He I'm serious? What was he the fourth best player on the Lakers today? He's not better than Austin Reeves.
No, no, Austin Reeves could make this list. I mean, if I had any input, if you asked me, j mackwa.
By the way, if Juan Soto in New York gets you to an elevator, everybody knows who won Sodo. Probably I think the ship has sailed on Harden. Really, Oh, I think he and Kawhi people are over it. You know, Tyler watches the show regularly. Tyler's a great coach.
He's not gonna be happy with that.
He's not in the dynamic. Like three Clippers assistants lived near me. They're gonna be ticked.
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All Right, here we go. It's our two live City of Stars, Los Angeles, Austin Reeves, Semi stuff wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Lebron and Luca. Last night down all sorts of feisty and a couple of minutes will be going to Dan Woiki, who covers the Lakers to the La Times. It was a magical night. But I was saying, this is that you know that you've heard about the placebo effect where people can talk themselves into being sick. And I was just talking to somebody yesterday who had a rough spot in their life, and I told this person, I said, optimism is such a big part of recovery. Like, you've got to be positive. You've got to wake up. Tony Robbins talks about this all the time. Your mind plays tricks on you. Your mind gets negative very quickly. You got to get things out of there. Don't don't consume certain things that get you angry. You'll have a hard time getting off that merry go round, and so we're all capable of We wake up in the morning and something happens in our life and it triggers this great optimism or or negativity. And watching Lebron play with Luca, I said it last hour, it's like a kid that got that got a bicycle at Christmas. Every part of Lebron's game in the last four or five games with Luca is energized. And I'm watching him. Last night, I said I would give Lebron a new two year deal today. His fourth quarter last night it didn't make a biological sense. I don't know where he's getting the energy. He was the best player on the floor. Ali oops. His defense is unbelievable, and I just think he liked Ad personally and professionally. But Ady wasn't a playmaker, so Lebron always felt like he had to be the initiator. Occasionally he let Austin Reeves run the show. But it's different now. Lucas the quarterback. JJ Reddick has said the quiet part out loud. Luca's running the show. Austin Reeves can be second when Lebron's on the bench. But I'm watching the energy right now and it feels very d weighed in Lebron. Where Lebron is really playing with on a nightly basis an energy that I don't think I saw consistently with Ad. And it's not a shot at a D. But there was a way Lebron had to play. He wanted to pass the baton and though Ad was a remarkable defensive player and a good guy and got in very good shape, was getting hurt less. His games is game. Luca is allowing Lebron to conserve energy and then give you these intense five and six minute bursts. Last night it was a twelve minute burst and it was like nothing I've ever seen from a forty year old guy. And here is JJ Reddick on the new Lebron James.
Lebron's playing it an all NBA defense level.
He is.
You know, people may have perceptions of what he is as a defender. I watch it every night. He doesn't gate scored on in isolation. If teams do try to target him, he blows plays up. You know, I think there was this perception of him at this age like conserving energy. Now there's no conservation of energy on that end of the floor.
And with that, Dan woyke Oft the La Times is joining us in studio, and I so appreciate this. I text a friend, Maverick Carter's a friend, you know, Maverick. Maverick's underneath the basket, but once a year he gives me his tickets. So Maverick Carter a really good guy and with a high school teammate of Lebron. And I said, I don't even know what I watched last night. In the fourth quarter, I'm like, that was insane. The energy was palpable. Yeah, and I do feel like, not that he's like conserving it, but I do feel like Lebron at sometimes felt like, man, I would like to let somebody else run the show a little bit and play off ball. Does it feel different to you in the last five or six games.
I think it's an interesting question, Colin. Like, I think that there was a time right where we heard about the torch being passed right or wanting help. He wants help playmaking and stuff, but then when it came time to actually do it, he didn't. And I think part of that was because he was always the best option. Yes, right, it's always like the ball and Lebron. It's kind of sometimes why he's been hard to coach. Is that what better play is it? Then give Lebron James the ball.
Think about this Dan in Cleveland. As great and skillful as Kyrie was, he ended up being an off guard a lot. And I would argue Kyrie is as skilled as any player I've ever seen with the ball in his hands.
He's incredible and he was great last night too.
Yeah. So I think your point is this is a little bit of Lebron saying, Okay, I've met my equal at initiating offense.
He said something this year. You know, being around him now basically every day since he's been in Los Angeles, by and large, I've never heard him. Hear him say that somebody is better than him at stuff like that's just not what he's that's not how he's built. He said, Luca do not just does the same stuff as me, and some of it even better. And I think at this stage in his career, having somebody who can do that, it does sort of shift Lebron into I call it like Olympics Lebron. Yeah, yeah, like like the version of him we saw in Paris where you're controlling the game, but maybe you don't have the ball all the time, like you're doing all of these little things.
He such a great Yeah.
Yeah, he's such a basketball savant. He's so smarted, finding ways to matter in ways to like make differences in games. And yeah, it's on the offensive end. That clip of JJ. That was a question I asked some postgame about Lebron's defense, Like the last six weeks or so, defensively, like, Lebron has been excellent, and they've been good with Anthony Davis, they've been good when Anthony Davis was hurt.
Their last nineteen games. Are the best defensive team in the league. Now here's the question, though, And I'd said this for years about Carmelo Anthony, he'd scored twenty nine, he'd give up twenty two.
Well that still works.
No, You do you worry though that Reeves Lebron. The Lakers do feel a little top heavy. Yeah, Reeves, Lebron, Luca all playmakers. MAVs have won, but the MAVs have size. That Mark Williams trade I thought would have made a real difference. Do you worry that Luca's defense will eventually be a liability?
Yeah? I mean I think they're They're not a perfect team in any real way. I think the things they're great at, they're great at, and that gives you a that gives you a chance in this league, right if you can, if you can manipulate the game in the way where your strengths mask your weaknesses. And I think the way the Lakers have been masking their defensive weaknesses has been with overall team effort. You know, this is a group that has played incredibly hard. You know, Austin Reeves is a really smart defender, even though he has athletic limitations. Lukadacis is huge. He is a he's a big player, and he gets in the passing lanes. He creates turnovers. Now does he get beat off the dribble, Sure it happens. But when he's engaged, like I mean, you know, forget last night he's going for a minute, let's talk about Saturday in Denver, you know where that they win by twenty three. Masterful defensive game plan. I guess a team they haven't been able to solve. Luca didn't look like, you know, a negative defender in that game. And I think at times when he's been engaged, he's been a pretty good defender.
He's actually a very good rebounder when he wants to last night the great Yeah, like Luke is one of those guys that and Lebron's got a little bit of this magic. Johnson was good at this magic. We need to play center and score forty two. Like Luca when you ask him to be around the basket. He is a big, thick body. He can clean the glass. I mean last night's first half, I think he had like ten rebounds at half.
Yeah. And I know we'll get to the Warriors in a minute, but I do think when you have great players that are also smart players, yeah, it just helps this process move along much quicker than it might otherwise. Right, Like we'll see with this Lakers group, I think to your point about Lebron, like there is sort of a you know, when this trade first happened, there was a feeling around the organization that like this, the Laker has been provided an off ramp, right that they can move now in this direction where they don't need Lebron James the same way they needed him six weeks ago. They have a future. I think what they're seeing now is like the immediate future is maybe even more Luca and Lebron than they realized. Should Lebron want to do it, and we'll see how long he wants to do this, but they have real chances. It feels like they have a real chance this year. Yeah, I think with an offseason to like perfectly architect the roster around the guys that you have in the core that you have, certainly will have a chance there. And they're also catching Luka Dantra Jet like sort of the perfect time.
You know, It's funny when JJ Reddick got the job, I had heard this about Reddick. He's very arrogant. He went to Duke And my take is, I am okay with arrogance as long as it's accompanied with self awareness. JJ's got both. JJ's a very good looking, very confident I mean, he's made a lot of money, he's been very successful. He's also got self awareness. He can laugh at himself. He knows when he's over the top. Is and I think if you go look at Lebron's history, even if he doesn't always agree with Eric s Folstra, he respects his IQ right, he respects and I and I really do believe he respects Hilu. There is something about JJ Reddick is that I think this job could in the Lakers job is engulfed certain coaches. They didn't have enough like arrogance, they didn't have enough confidence. Oh, Darvin Ham. Sometimes I got a little engulfed by it. I think JJ when I watch him, like he's absolutely sure his way is right. And for the record, so far it has been.
I think the thing with JJ and you mentioned ergos, and that's the word that comes up with him a lot. It's certainly the first impression. It's also paired with open mindedness, yes, which is a unique combination. You know. Usually like people who are arrogant believe their ways the best because it's not necessarily because it's a way they've cultivated through conversations with you know, everybody, from the guy who you know sells him a palmade to like you know whoever, Like if you've got a good basketball idea, like JJ Rittick will listen to it. That's the reality of it. I think coaching is really hard to judge generally speaking, you know, being there at night and night out. It's not always the showiest thing because players do what they do. Basketball is very free flowing. I think the things that I'm hearing behind the scenes, things about you know, communication, like making sure that you're touching base with players on a very regular basis, like following his gut, his instinct.
JJ Reddick is a very authentic guy, correct and so very direct.
He's very direct, but he's not Kurt.
He's direct without being mean spirited. He'll tell you exactly what he feels, but he says it with a smile. He says it like, hey man, this is what I believe. I just think JJ Reddick there was some concern he's a podcaster. He absolutely feels big enough for the job.
Yeah, I think you know. The way that I've kind of settled on this with him is that if you look at you know, you'll say he didn't have enough experience, right, well, like if the most important part of being an NBA coach is relating to your players, right And I believe that to be mostly true. You know, he was a star among stars as a college basketball player, right, like biggest in the country. You know, a total villain in a way that very few people are. He was a hey who couldn't crack a rotation and had to sit on the end of a bench of a contender. He was a sending player, like looking for a bigger role. He was a starter, he was then a vet, and then he was a guy whose body equiped like he's basically lived every basketball NBA life in the course of his career.
Would I remember about him as a player beyond shooting in Duke before Steph Curry became a star, I'd never seen a player work harder off the ball. Yeah, he was a cardio machine. If you guarded JJ Ruddy, you have to chase him.
Around the floor system unto himself.
Yep, all right. I want to talk about Jimmy Butler. So I read a couple of stories about when before Jimmy Butler and the Warriors happened, and there were analytic people that said, you.
Know, I don't know if it works enough shooting.
Yeah, And my take was to know, he's the anti Wiggins. He's intentional on every possession. He plays with intensity that you know when he's on the floor, he's never lost. I don't think he will rub Draymond the wrong way because Draymond calls out people who often need to be called out. Jimmy doesn't. In fact, you could say scale it down this to me, I felt his EQ and his IQ. I'm like just get him in this system, it'll work. And I don't know what the analytics say it has. Are you a little surprised it's worked this well?
Uh? No, I think that you know, you touched on two of the things that I think EQ in the NBA is the thing that you hear a lot now, like emotional intelligence, Like how do you fit in these systems? And I think you know, Jimmy is so competitive, so competitive, and you've put him in an environment where a competition is thrived, right, Like, this is a group that is won at the highest level and they've done it in back to back seasons as a core in Stephan Draymond and Steve Kerr. To do that, you have to have just this incredible competitive endurance. You can't do it otherwise it's too hard. And so I think he fits in that. I think that they are a very mature team when it comes to their culture, so like it can handle personalities. It's not foreign to them at all. And I think that you know, I, like I said before, with like Lebron and Luca an Austin Reeves swot degree, you just tend to trust smart players, right like figured out guys and Jimmy Butler is a figured out guy. He hasn't been a good shooter since he's been in the NBA. It hasn't stopped him from morning like, like it really hasn't. It's not like, you know, his athleticism has changed, like it hasn't stopped him, like his availability and stuff like that. And Miami had the reasons for moving on, and Jimmy had his reasons for wanting to be out.
To He wanted a lot of years, a lot of money, and that wasn't exactly totally.
But I think in this situation for a team like Golden State, right like, I think similar to the Lakers, there was a feeling that there's an opportunity here in the Western Conference. There there is a lurking giant literally in Victor Wemben Yama and in San Antonio right like, assuming he'll recover and stuff like that, you have the Oklebland City Thunder, who if it's not this year, will be soon. That roster is built win and built win for a long time. But right now there's a feeling that there's a chance to be had. When you talk to teams around the way, I don't.
Think Houston's can shoot well enough, I think in situational basketball, Houston will come up basket shy. Sure they'll have the athleticism, they'll can defend it. Yeah, but they're they're not a shooting team, and you tighten people up in a playoff game. And I think Oklahoma City also feels like to me, they're a year away and they're gonna be looking for buckets outside of s g A. And if you can lock him down again these playoffs, when I play a team seven times and I we're all equally rested, Warriors, Lakers, these older teams Denver, I think the Warriors. I mean, if I said to you right now, Okase ends up with Golden State.
I mean I think I would lean thunder. But it's close, much closer than a one to eight should be.
Yep uh.
And I think it's because of the experience. It's because of you know, we've just seen it so many times with these groups. Golden State can match some of their physicality. Now what you mean, Butler, they don't have the size they're gonna they're gonna be hurt against teams that have size. And that's what's interesting about the West is like there's also all these just like really unique matchups. There are teams that are that are coming at this in very different ways, and I think, you know, Minnesota is going to be coming here. They're getting better, getting healthier at the right time playing defense. I know Chris Finch is a little happier about where they've been defensively. Just had a huge win in Oklahoma City themselves. I think all of these teams are can look at themselves in the mirror, like six or seven teams incredibly Memphis and say like the time is now for us, like Memphis has been, you know, kind of at the doorstep a bunch of times, like are they really ready to win now? Like we'll find out. I think it's it's going to be a really good playoff.
So it's interesting. There are teams that I think that are very authentic and you know exactly what they are. And I'll tell you why the Knicks are this. The Caves and the Celtics are very good pick and roll teams, and the Knicks can't defend it. Karl Anthony Towns is a brilliant offensive player. He's really skilled. Chris Finch told me yesterday he goes. I know he was good. I coached him and he is so good. He can't defend the pick and roll. Brunson's not great at it, and Cleveland is so efficient that I just think when you look at the Knicks, I think they're a step away. I think Karl Anthony Towns gets them to elite, gets them to a place offensively, they get off of Julius Randall. He makes them a better offensive team. But I think when you look at the Knicks, they are absolutely not built. They're not constructed to beat the Calves and the Celtics. They just can't defend them.
Well, you know, they've struggled against good teams this year. I think defensively, they've really struggled against good teams.
Yep.
And to me that it's just there's a disconnect, right because you have such a defensive minded head coach, you have the type of you know your coaches. In a lot of times, your coaches and your best players are what drive your identity, and like it does feel like their identities are moving in different directions.
That's right.
You know, they are a terrific offensive team with a top tier defensive coach, and I think you'd want a little more alignment there. In a perfect world, you know, it is a little bit it feels a little bit like an overcorrection. We'll see what happens if they're able to get Mitchell Robinson back and like you can get him into shape and playing, like will that help help? It'll help some, But it just feels like at their core, who they are is a team that's going to outscore you, and that they have to outscore you. And when you have put time and money and assets into players like og Anobi and mckel bridges and Josh Hart, guys that are are there largely to make sure it's hard for the other team to score, you would like to see that sort of personality kind of permeate the entire roster. The way it's just quite frankly, you know, it doesn't like the Night of the Lucadachia Trade, right, Like this feels like ancient history now, Like the Lakers without Anthony Davis like had no problems with Carl Town's because he was twenty four feet away from the basket all game, right, and they didn't exploit their size advantages. They didn't exploit their toughness advantages in that game, And that's been kind of a recurring theme against teams that can spread them out in Cleveland and Boston are going to spread you out like that is what they do. And they're going to put Carl Town's into rotations. They're going to make them scramble, and you know, it's just it's hard if one of your best players is you know, one of your biggest weaknesses on the defensive end.
Finally, let's wrap it up, let's pivot back to the Lakers. It's one thing to cover a player. It's another thing to see a player occasionally when you're around Luca, you're at practice with Luca, you're in the locker room with Luca. What is he like to cover? Is there a joyfulness around him? Because it seems like he's bringing that out of Lebron.
I think for him right now, there's still shock. He's still somebody who is dealing with the emotional baggage from this trade.
I thought last night at the end of the game, he looked a little shot.
He was exhausted last night, like it Colin Joint. That game reminded me up a little bit. Do you remember doing like the presidential fitness testing when you were a kid, like where you'd have to yes, you know, that game went out too fast, and the lap one of the mile, it was like, you know, just this horrible cramp after the first quarter was so much emotion that it expended in that game, and then it kind of sputtered to the finish before Lebron was able to really pull it through. I think big picture, Luca being around Lebron can have just as much for Luca as it does for Lebron in terms of what it takes day and day out to have your body ready to play at a constant level. You know what it takes to make others great. Obviously Luca knows how to do all that stuff, and seeing that and seeing a player that he's loved since he was thirteen fourteen years old.
He's a really giving down court passer, and sometimes it's different from when he drives and dishes because there's an immediate payoff. But when you pass the ball down the floor, you're often eliminating yourself from the play. Sure, you're taking yourself out and a lot of guys Lebron's always been great at that. Not all offensive players are. They kind of want to bring the ball up.
Is Lebron, Luka and Kic are the three best at it, and the Lakers have two of them.
Incredible to watch him. He is so, I mean, he is the classic quarterback in this league.
And Lebron said the other day, right, like Lebron said, he's built to be a receiver. We can argue about whether he can do both, certainly, but I think I think the biggest thing that I've seen being around Luca right now right is like there is somebody who wants who has a fire and wants to prove prove Dallas wrong. Like you can see that, like he is carrying scar tissue from this trade. And I do you also see a player that is incrementally getting more used to like I mean, Colin, look at this. This looks insane. It's Luca Dotchison a Lakers jersey. It still looks weird, and but you you know, you're seeing a player who's getting every day, like fractionally more comfortable with it. In come April, come May. You're seeing a player too, who loves the spotlight, loves the big stage. And I mean every night it feels like it's a pretty big stage. When you got him on the court with the bron.
James la Times, Dan woodge great scenior again, my man, thanks. Do we have a coffee machine up here? We should give our guests. We don't have parting gifts, but a nice Cafe Americano off the door would be a nice thing. How about that?
No one's ever said I need more caffeine, Collin.
This is the first live in LA. It's the Herd.
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So before Jimmy Butler went to the Warriors and we thought that was the fit, and it's worked out. They won again last night, Big. There was a lot of rumors about k D to the Warriors, and I just I just watched KD play in Chicago against the Suns. That team's got some fit issues and misses some a true point guard and that thing just doesn't work. But KD was on the Draymond Green podcast and talked about he was the guy that nixed the KD to the Warriors deal because it was there for him.
But as far as the Warriors, I just didn't thank you, was you know? And then I didn't want to move, and then it's a player like me. I just called the lot I called me going into your team is gonna make just a It's gonna be a whole new era of your team when I get to your team. You know what I'm saying. So and that's lot of work and the season. Like I'm still of value, you know what I'm saying, especially in my contract and just my production. That me just getting up and moving in the middle of season, it's gonna be a big blow to any team I'm going to. It just don't make sense for either side right now to go go through that, you know what I'm saying, when we just played the season out and if that's the decision you want to make, you know in the off season, then you know you figure it out.
Yeah, I mean that makes sense. I will say, don't you now you're what are you looking at? What don't you like about? Because I think Phoenix is broken?
Maybe I misheard?
Did he just say it would be very difficult if I just change teams mid season, that team would have to be blown up, which is sow Luka Doncic get traded mid season, Jimmy Butler mid season. Both those teams are thriving. Now, Colin, what the hell is he talking about? Well, it's too difficult for me. Who are Kevin Durant? What are you even talking about?
Dude?
Well, I thought Jimmy Butler was the perfect fit. I thought he was a perfect fit. I think Luca fitz Lebron. I think they've done the Kadie thing. There's no going home again. I think they did it.
But couldn't he have gone anywhere else and easily fit in? Hell, Detroit Pistons are one of the hottest teams in the league. Couldn't he have gone to Detroit and helped them be a top five team in the East or something crazy top four?
I don't know, Well we don't. We don't know that that many teams went after him. We know that Golden State was interested and I and I think his take was I've done that, which is? Which is? It's you know, there's certain places in my life I've been. There's no reason to go back. I get the I don't need to do that again there. I think Kevin Durant really wishes Phoenix would have worked, and it didn't and it hasn't, and they're missing a point guard and Tho some of that on Kevin Durant, though I don't think he's been the problem. I don't think. Sometimes like the Bradley Beal thing did not work, that's that just didn't work. I thought it would, it did not. I watched them play against the Bulls, and it's so obvious when you watch them in person as you have Durant in the corner and Boozer on the wing, and when they try to initiate the offense, it doesn't work. And so they need a point guard, and Bradley Bealds more of a two guard. So it just the Phoenix thing's not gonna work, Colin.
Last night they lost the game one. Okay, they had five guys score twenty more points. I think they shot fifty seven percent from three.
All lost.
They got bigger problems at a point guard.
I think some of this.
Kevin Durant has to take some ownership of this. They got swept by Minnesota last year. He got swept at the end in Brooklyn by Boston. Remember that Tatum and those guys.
Laughing at him.
Kevin Durant needs to get his actor.
And I'm a huge KD fan, but at some point you've got to take ownership, ay Man, I haven't been good.
I think it's always I always feel this with Kevin Durant, buyer, Beware, you know what you're getting. He doesn't want to be vocal. He's not gonna be the leader. You know. It's sort of like you know what you get when you get Aaron Rodgers. You're gonna get a little bit of an older, prickly player who could be a little passive aggressive. You know that going in? So are you built for that? Lebron is a I'm gonna take. I'm gonna be the new ecosystem of the franchise. I'm gonna talk to the press. I'm gonna push back. It's my ball. I'm gonna initiate. That's not who Kevin is. Kevin's more Aaron Rodgers. Sometimes he can be a little prickly. He can be a tad moody. They're both remarkable talents. But I often and this says nothing against uh matt Ishbia Uh. You know the owner he came in. He was gonna be hyper aggressive. Totally appreciated. I just met his brother this weekend justin They're aggressive guys. I appreciate that, But I think not every player is built the same when you brought a Rod in as a baseball player, he was not Jeter, he was not a foundational piece. He he's not the leader in the clubhouse. He is a superstar player that needs to be appreciated. And there are certain things with a rod that that you have to be ready for. And it worked. But that and that's not a criticism. We're all different personalities, and so I think you just you have to be fair to Katie when you bring KD in. I would prefer to bring KD in if I have certain elements already in place, right, and I think Golden State had those. But I think kde deep down said I did it. I've been there, I've done it, I won titles, I was MVP. Why repeat it.
It's colin.
You know, as you grow up and mature and get older, like you change, that's normal. Life is changed.
Has Kevin Durant changed at all?
I don't know.
It's still the same guy. I just want to get buckets. I just want to hoop like that's what That's been his line for that.
But that's some players that's what they want.
I you know, I prob he's thirty six years old. Well they almost over for KD. It's you got no more chance for a legacy or whatever crap you want to call it.
Lae, I find myself defending him. I think I don't know him, but I think he's a different personality, and if you inherit him or you trade for him, just know what you're getting. And he doesn't want to be like in Brooklyn. He's like, hey man, I'm gonna give up on this dynasty because I don't care about Troll. I'm gonna go play with my friend. I didn't get it at all. It did not work, but that's who he is. People. What maya Angelou say? People tell you who they are. Listen, he's telling you who he is.
