Jimmy Butler (7:12)

Know, we felt it. We were kind of treading water.

Colin Cowherd (7:15)

Sometimes you just, you got to shake things up.

Jimmy Butler (7:18)

And we shook things up.

Colin Cowherd (7:19)

For the record, Joel Embiid has become mostly a big truck that half the time you can't even get out of the garage. He's getting benched. He won't play back to backs. And this is an organization where people are going to lose their jobs because Embiid is not delivered. He may have the worst contract now in professional sports. He's getting hurt more often. I've never seen him as a leader, but it was Embiid. Sometimes talent, sometimes. Remember Durant and Westbrook? Nobody can deny Westbrook's energy, production and talent. And Sam Presti's a brilliant gm, but Katie's like, I'm the better player by far. Can I get a little love? And I think. I think Daryl Morey's a smart guy. But in the end, Embiid struggles. Forget getting along with teammates. Embiid struggles to play well with others. Hell, he struggled at the Olympics. Remember the. It was the one guy that didn't work at the Olympics. Butler can work with any team. There is no. I don't care if he went to the Knicks or the Celtics tomorrow. Butler works with every team. He makes every team better. He gets into the playoffs. Yes, he can wear you out. Some relationships don't last forever. Steph Curry doesn't wear people out. Jimmy can wear people out. But he'll make your basketball team better. All right, Something else that happened over the weekend. So this has been a long time coming, and this is not a shot at LeBron James, but LeBron now is in what year? 22. LeBron at his best is going to give you amazing four and five minute flashes of brilliance, but he cannot be the initiator of the offense anymore. If Luka sits down, he can be. If, if, if, if luka's playing and LeBron sits down. Austin Reaves also capable of being a playmaker. J.J. redick finally said the quiet part out loud as the Lakers beat Denver is that Luka had his highest usage rate as a Laker, and it was his best game. This is how the Lakers should play. Because, remember, as great as Kyrie Irving was in Cleveland, he was relegated to a shooting guard with LeBron and probably should have been as great as D. Wade was in Miami. He was relegated to off ball. And he's not a great, pure shooter. LeBron has been such a force of nature and so great for so long that everybody wants him to play off ball. And AD is great, but AD can't be the playmaker. So LeBron's entire career, it's not that LeBron's selfish. I always use a statistic with LeBron James. He averaged like 28 a game his junior year in high school. He could have averaged 60 his senior year. You know what? He averaged one more point of senior year. LeBron wants to pass. He likes to be a playmaker. I've always felt he's more Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan. He wants others to score, but he likes to control the offense. Finally, finally, he has a teammate. This is. This is due to two things. Luke is a really good playmaker, and LeBron's now 40. So the combination of the two, a transformational young talent in Luka and The fact that LeBron is older and is great in spurts. But in the Denver game, when LeBron didn't have to be the initial, the initiator of offense, his usage rate was only 29%. That's well below his average. Did you also notice since Luke arrived, What's happened to LeBron's efficiency? It's gone through the roof. So he's fresh for those flurries late in the round, late in the quarter, late in the sequence, late in the half, late in the game. So this is finally. And now, now it's working. Now somebody said this to me years ago and it was really smart about LeBron. Whenever you play with LeBron, you are playing in LeBron's offense. You just have to figure out now, Kyrie got really frustrated with it. But I think LeBron, because of his age and because I think Lucas even, I mean, listen, Kyrie's an all time talent, but I think he looks at Luka and goes, okay, finally. As much as I loved AD, he's not a playmaker. Luka is. Austin Reaves is. LeBron is. But this is what JJ Redick said after this win in Denver, and this is the quiet part. Finally, finally being said out loud. Luka needs to be the guy that controls the offense and Bond and AR.

Jimmy Butler (11:48)

Because we're going to stagger everybody. They're going to have their times to.

Colin Cowherd (11:51)

Be on the ball.

Jimmy Butler (11:52)

But all three of those guys are very intelligent basketball players and we can create mismatches.

Colin Cowherd (11:58)

We can get teams in the blender. Nobody's ever said that like that has been thought about privately. It's been whispered. It's been, you know, it probably be bet the whole AD time we kept waiting for the baton pass. That against Denver, that was the baton pass. That was a moment. That's what I said. I think the Lakers can play for the Western Conference finals if they play like that. You got Rui in the corner. Austin reaves is your third best playmaker. Luke is your primary initiator. And LeBron off ball unless Lucas sits for the record. LeBron sees it and said this after.

Jimmy Butler (12:38)

I'm a natural born wide receiver and he's a natural born quarterback. So it fits perfectly. You know, I'm. I've been running the floor and running lanes like, you know, pretty much my whole life. And he's been throwing great passes pretty much his whole life. So it's not, it's not hard to get a rhythm when it comes to that. You know, it's just all about, you know, Eye contact and, you know, him being a great quarterback like he is and me being the recipient of it.

Colin Cowherd (13:02)

This is not a small thing. This has, like, been the discussion for years. This is what Kyrie complained about. D. Wade didn't complain about it. D. Wade and Spoelstra figured it out after about two practices. This is gonna be LeBron's team. Kyrie pushed back, but LeBron was better at it. AD I'm not a playmaker. This is what it can look like. This is what it can look like at its best. Luke is the playmaker. He initiates it. LeBron will have more efficiency and more energy late in the quarter. Half game and they blow out Denver. And Denver's a team I don't know in the last 15 is the. Is Denver 14 and 1. Denver always beats the Lakers. And this wasn't even close. So I don't want to get too crazy, but this is what it should look like. J. Mack, listen. Hockey blew up when I was gone. Aaron Rodgers may be a Ram. Colin, right? Colin Wrong. NFL may screw around with their kickoffs even more. I hope you had a great time with the fam. I did. Wife and I went to Grand Cayman, so nice little getaway down to the Caribbean. It's good to be back and hear you saying nice things about LeBron. Oh, my gosh, Colin, that's awesome. Am I wrong? No, you're right. It does feel like we're a little far away. I feel like I have to wave or maybe shout a little louder. Watching that may have been intentional. Oh, shots fired on Monday. So I will say this. We are. I'm not going to tell you why we're in a makeshift studio. It's amazing how good of a makeshift studio it was. They told me call to have a makeshift studio, and I thought we were going to be in a broom closet. So I came up here this morning with very low hope. My optimism was at a low. Nothing against management, but I went up to a broom closet and I'm like, all right, it's going to be a rough four months. I can't believe how nice it is. In fact, you may want to cancel those plans and use that budget for something else because I am really comfortable up here. I am feeling great. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.

J. Mac (14:59)

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Colin Cowherd (15:30)

Helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Oh really? Thanks Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply see capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC you can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Colin I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. For many, the American Dream means starting your own business and working for yourself. If you're a small business owner, launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you also want to check out season three of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In every episode, hosts Austin Hencwitz and Jenice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss. From tracking money in and out to cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business Small business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, we do it every Monday at this time, football or not. Colin right, Colin wrong. And here we go where Colin was right. Well, I said once they got Luka it would take a while to figure it out and they won't be great defensively but either is Denver in the west. But the Lakers will be a Western Conference finals participant. They blew out Denver in Denver. Luka now not LeBron for the first time ever, Luka's the quarterback and the initiator of the off and LeBron's more the tight end or wide receiver and I think at this point that's the best way to do it. J.J. redick deserves a lot of credit. He's saying the quiet part out loud. Luka's gonna lead the offense allowing Austin Reaves and LeBron to be great off ball. This is how it should work and JJ Redick, the new guys come in. I said this, this franchise now is Luka and JJ Redick's. That's not a shot at LeBron but this game against Denver is what the offense should look like Where Colin was raw There's a story today that the Vikings are considering re signing Sam Darnold and I'm a little confused by this. Not the franchise tech which would pay him a lot so that tells me J.J. mcCarthy's injury. There's still some concerns. Now Daniel Jones is there but a free agent. Listen, I'm not one of these. Sam had a great year. 35 touchdown, 12 picks. Is it a lightning in a bottle moment? A little bit. But I think Sam's in his prime. He's coachable, he moves, he's got a good arm and I think Minnesota is really well coached. But I will be honest, I thought he was moving off. I thought Sam would have a market. I'd be surprised if the Raiders don't make a real run in him. So Darnold according to a story Vikings open to a contract where Collin was right. I said this before I left. Keep your eyes on Aaron Rodgers. If Stafford leaves to the Rams and Pro Football Talk is quoting a general manager anonymous GM saying yep it's being discussed one of the reasons Stafford and the Rams are going to discuss a new deal at the combine starting Thursday and going through the weekend I'm told. But Aaron doesn't want a long term deal. He's been humbled a little in New York and also after playing in well run Green Bay he probably misses a really top to bottom well run organization. I'm not saying it's going to happen but I'm not surprised that Aaron who I actually think with a staff at the end of last year for the jets that was suboptimal. I thought Aaron was pretty good down the stretch story today Rams are looking where Colin was wrong. Well they got Josh Hart finally back after 11 days off. But they got. I thought the Knicks were going to be a very good team. Better offensively with Karl Anthony Towns and very good. At least as good defensively. They're not. They're bad defensively now they're getting Robinson back and Josh Hart came back. But Boston and Cleveland attack Carl Anthony Towns and there is nothing they can do about it. Again, I thought a lot of their defense would be solved by Mikhail Bridges, a very athletic wing. They cannot defend the three. In fact, I think they're last in the NBA at defending the three. So of all the Knicks problems, I thought they were going to be a better offensive team than last year. Still great defense. They are struggling on the defensive end where Colin was right. Never really understood the fascination with Joel Embiid right now. They've lost seven straight with Joel Embiid. He got bench yesterday. Listen, I know he's talented and I know he's worth something, but they chose. Embiid is the good guy and Jimmy Butler is the bad guy and all Butler does is win. Now with the warriors and then with the Miami Heat, I don't understand his game. He's shooting more threes than ever and he's bad at it, shooting 29%. He didn't work in the Olympics with other star players. So I. I've never been a huge Embiid fan. He was gifted an MVP a couple of years ago because people didn't think it was fair that Jokic won three straight. Now you're seeing the result of that huge contract. Bad news for the Sixers where Colin was wrong. T. Higgins looks like he could stay in Cincinnati stories today. They are considering strongly a franchise tag. Now, that would probably overpay him for the short term, but my takeaway is outside of Burrow and Jamar Chase, who are you paying? You got one edge rusher. If Philadelphia can pay everybody, including Dom, they should be able to pay Burrow, Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. He's a really good player. He's durable. He's got a catching radius. I mean, he can take a hit, he can block a little. I'm surprised Cincinnati would open up the wallet here where Colin was right. We were huge proponents of Jimmy Butler to the warriors and their 51 since he arrived. They didn't have a consistent number two score. More than that, though, Butler gets to the free throw line and the warriors were bottom of the league in that category since he arrived. They're top one and two in the league in free throws attempted and free throws made. He's feisty. He is not a naturally gifted offensive score, but he works for it. He forces you to guard him and defend him every time down the floor and he's the kind of guy that will challenge teammates, his staff and I just think they needed to be more interesting. And he delivered where Collin was right? Tebow Samuel the Niners have told him you have permission to look for a trading partner. I had said last year I thought he was the odd man out. Kittle still playing at an elevated level. Brandon Iuk is there down the field, deep threat. They've got to play. Brock Purdy. They drafted two receivers, Pierce all late first round looks like he can fill that role. Debo is a really, really good chess piece and Kyle Shanahan is does wonders with those. I'm not sure if he's the same player if he gets a defensive head coach or a staff that doesn't quite understand his value doing many things besides wide receiver, but he felt like the odd man out to me during this season and the stories now San Francisco willing to move Colin right? Colin Ron. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app with AMEX.

J. Mac (23:52)

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Colin Cowherd (24:22)

One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Oh really? Thanks. Capital One Bank Guy what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC. You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Required card has no cash access and expires in six months. Colin I'm Colin Coward from the Herd for many, the American Dream means starting your own business and working for yourself. If you're a small business owner, launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you also want to check out season three of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In every episode, hosts Austin Henkewicz and Jenice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss. From tracking money in and out to cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys. Listen to Mind the Business Small business success stories on the Iheart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Here we go. It is a Tuesday live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. Tonight is the night. Tonight is the night. Luka Dontich, the newest Laker in Los Angeles and the team that traded him away. Shockingly, the Dallas Mavericks limp into town with all their bigs injured. This has the potential to get really ugly. J Mac is going to this one. I'll be locked on a tv smoking a stove, maybe knocking down a gin and soda, checking out what will be a spectacle in Los Angeles tonight. And this is a city over the last several years between Mookie Betts and Freeman and Shohei Ohtani and Lincoln Riley and Jim Harbaugh. A lot of stars coming to town. J Mac Tonight is going to be interesting. So Luka Dontich at home hosting the Mavs. You're going to officially see how awful this trade was. Luka is going to be inspired. He's going to be ticked off and J.J. redick and LeBron James are going to make sure he eats. They're going to feed him the ball all night. This is going to be the New York Giants against Saquon Barkley. This is going to be dinner with your ex and she upgraded. You're going to be wondering if you're Dallas. What was I thinking? Where did it all go wrong? It sets up to be a Bloodbath, potentially, because Dallas, all their bigs are hurt. So Luke is going to score any way he wants. And I said this, if the Mavericks would have gotten Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and three first round picks, I still wouldn't have made the deal. But I, but I could. I. You know, he's hurt conditioning, maybe I'd sleep a little better at night. But giving him away for one pick for Anthony Davis. And he is not 26 years old yet. He's got two more days to be 25. And here's the thing, the thing I'm thinking about this morning. Yes, Saquon Barkley to the Eagles was a huge gaffe by Joe Shane, the Giants gm. But Saquon Barkley's a running back. They don't last forever. 32 years old, they can be out of the game. 33 years old, they retire soon. So you don't have to sit and watch this forever. Lucas, 25, if he gets the conditioning right, he could be dropping 33 points a night for the next 14 years. And the other thing, he's in the Western Conference. So Luca could be keeping Dallas because I actually like Dallas's roster. Ad Kyrie, their size, their coach. I actually like Dallas's roster. But there's a real opportunity here for the Lakers to bounce the Mavericks out for years. And this is a player that is just in two days turning 26. So years ago, about 15 straight years out of college, I used to have a dream that haunted me. And it may have lasted 20 years. And this thing woke me up in a sweat about three times a month. I had this dream that I was going to take a college final and I wasn't prepared. And I had this dream all the time. And just think about it this way. Luca is advanced calculus and the Mavericks, Nico Harrison is going to spend the next 12 to 13 years waking up at least two to three times a month in a sweat. That's why if you're going to trade Luca, you got to get assets, you got to get ammo, you got to get them out of your conference. He can't get in the way of keeping you from trophies. So tonight's the night. Dirk Nowitzki. Previously in Dallas. Their greatest player ever. He'll be here tonight and he has been in LA several times to support Luca.

Jimmy Butler (30:15)

I felt a little disappointed and sad for him. You know, I think he obviously didn't see this coming. So he invited me to come out to his first game in la and I felt like I had to support him. It was Reported that he was pretty obviously down and disappointed how it went down. And so I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be there for his family and. And then show support. It was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. And so at the end of the day, I mean, I'll never be a Lakers fan, but it was always be a Luca fan.

Colin Cowherd (30:48)

Tonight is a spectacle. We've been lucky in Los Angeles. We've just had big coaches and, you know, Stafford to town and Harbaugh to town and Shohei moves up the i5. And here comes Freddie Freeman from Atlanta. And here comes Mookie Betts. And now it's Luca in our lap and facing his Mavericks hobbling into town tonight. Can't wait. So Mel Kuiper, maybe you've heard of him, has a big mock draft and he released it today. And a lot of people are surprised that Shedeur Sanders, who people, you know, during the college football season, many people speculated he'd go number one. He's going number seven in the mock draft of the New York Jets. And I was thinking about this this morning. That's about where he should go. I think he's a good B plus prospect. I think he's a good kid. He's accurate. But my favorite part about Chador Sanders is not. It's not that his dad is Dion. It's not that he was one of the first guys that made Big Nil money. Actually, my favorite part isn't his strength. He's really accurate. You want to know my favorite part of Shador Sanders? The last two years, he has been the most sacked college quarterback out of every single Power 5 school. Oh, it gets worse. In the last two years, he had the worst running game of any other quarterback in Power 5 conferences. This is Andy Du Frain escaping from Shawshank. This kid has been through a tunnel, okay? This kid has swam through a tunnel. You know what? And there's a reason that there aren't a lot of great Ohio State quarterbacks in the NFL and not a lot of great Notre Dame quarterbacks. USC quarterbacks, Texas quarterbacks, Georgia quarterbacks. Why is that? Why is that? Yet Cal, the Golden Bears have given us Goff and Aaron Rodgers. North Carolina State gave us Philip Rivers, gave us Russell Wilson. Eastern Illinois gave us Garoppolo and Tony Romo. Why is that? Josh Allen's from Wyoming. Patrick Mahomes is from Texas Tech. Lamar Jackson from a basketball school, Louisville. Why is that? It's because of what Shadour Sanders faced. A tunnel of crap is that the reality is when you go to an Ohio State, you take a three strip, three step drop, hit a receiver, a five star receiver on a drag route. He goes for 48 yards. It's easy living. Go back to Matt Leinert at USC. How many times was he sacked? I mean, one time, one year, it was 11 times. It's not a real life that you'll face in the NFL, especially if you're a top 10 lottery pick. You go to bad teams and battle lines and bad receivers and often really bad coaches. That is why Big Ben didn't go to Ohio State. He was overlooked by them. Miami of Ohio, Drew Brees didn't go to Texas. He was overlooked by them. He went to Purdue, Mahomes, all those guys from Cal. Shador Sanders has had to manufacture offense and that's what happens in the NFL. Even if you're Patrick Mahomes because you make so much money, you don't have an elite offensive left tackle. And you have to manufacture stuff because you have to let Tyreek Hill go. Philadelphia is an outlier. They pay the quarterback and they're loaded. The reality is in the NFL, if you're a top 10 quarterback, you usually go to a lousy roster or a really bad smell in the organization. And then once you do get paid, you're going to be limited on actually what they can put around you. I mean, that's the downside to being a lottery pick. But Shador Sanders, the most sack quarterback, the worst running game. This kid's ready for it. It's not that his dad's Dion. It's not that he was the first nil star or second. It's not that he's really accurate. He's lived a real life in the NFL. I mean, Caleb Williams, high school and college, everything was easy. He goes to Chicago. That's a real life. The coach, the coordinators, the roster. You're o line. The media's not in your corner. So I look at Shador Sanders and I looked it up this morning and he's seventh in Mel Kuiper's draft. That's exactly, that's exact. By the way, if you look at the top seven teams in the NFL draft, I could argue the jets have the best roster going to fall a little. Oh, they got a number one receiver and a number one back and they have a left tackle from Penn State and they've got maybe the best corner or second best corner in the league and they've got a top linebacker. Now they got a new coaching staff. But I would argue falling in the draft of the jets, it's a better roster than Tennessee or the Giants or Cleveland or the Raiders. So I looked up the composite rankings of Colorado that Shadour Sanders played with. It was even with byu, SMU and Arizona State. And there are two quarterbacks in this draft that are ready to play day one, Cam Ward and Shador Sanders. And the biggest reason is he's lived a real NFL life running for his life with no running game for two years and having to manufacture offense. J Mac, you are very fired up. I would ask you where you got your tickets. I hopefully you had to pay for them. You didn't get freebies, so you can relate to people. But you are going to the game tonight and I'm a little jealous, but I'm going to sit back, watch. And my guess is luka goes for 44. 44. Well, they don't have any rim protection. Dallas's bigs are all hurt. But the other thing is, you know, JJ Redick and LeBron James are going to feed him the ball for 40 minutes. He is going to get the ball. They're going to initiate offense. This is going to be one of those, you know, you just do guys a solid. It's almost like when LeBron would play Cleveland in Miami. It's like we're going to make sure we get him the ball. We're going to make sure it's a solid.

Jimmy Butler (37:05)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (37:05)

You think he's maybe dieting today? A little intermittent fasting, not eating a little look a little slimmer to just shove it in the face of the Mavs. Boy, it's tough to be a Dallas Mavericks fan right now. How about a Dallas sports fan right now? Colin Cowboys are in turmoil. I was in Chicago this weekend and I was talking to a couple of Chicago sports fans. They are going through. People in Los Angeles are spoiled. We are. I mean, I mean there's been about an eight year run. I mean think of our football coaches. We've had Chip Kelly, Lincoln Riley, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McVay. Our quarterbacks would have been Caleb Williams, Matt Stafford, Jared Goff got shipped out of town. He wasn't good enough. And Justin Herbert, not. Not bad. No. So it's. And all of a sudden Luca falls in the lap of the Lakers. So it is. Tonight's gonna be a big night in LA. Huge. Massive. I'll go triple double for Luca. 32 point triple double. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the iHeart. Wake the neighbors. Tell your friends you want to watch the next 20 minutes. To Ron Armstead. 12 years in the NFL, a five time Pro Bowler, Started with the Saints, went to the Dolphins. One of the great multi left tackles. Pass blocking, run blocking in the NFL for a long time. Could play. Still available. We'll get into that in a second. This guy's full of personality. You know what's always interesting? I'm fascinated by this. How in the hell did you end up being overlooked by SEC team? It didn't take you very long to be good in the NFL. You went to Arkansas, Pine Bluff.

Jimmy Butler (38:40)

I did.

Colin Cowherd (38:40)

I know where Arkansas is. I don't know where the Pine or the Bluff is at. Why were you a late bloomer?

Jimmy Butler (38:48)

I think my area was just overlooked. My high school was behind the times as far as exposure.

Colin Cowherd (38:54)

Okay.

Jimmy Butler (38:54)

Putting. Putting the eyes on guys and getting the tape to where it was available. You know, I was still vhs, very. A lot of static.

Colin Cowherd (39:02)

Well, Josh Allen, same thing.

Jimmy Butler (39:04)

Oh, really?

Colin Cowherd (39:04)

Yo. No, I mean literally didn't get a single college offer.

Jimmy Butler (39:07)

Oh, wow.

Colin Cowherd (39:08)

Played out in the sticks in Northern California.

Jimmy Butler (39:10)

Okay, well, same situation. Yeah. So if you were watching my film, you would have to kind of figure out which of those dots were me. And we like that guy. And it didn't happen for me.

Colin Cowherd (39:21)

Did you know? Did you go to the combine?

Jimmy Butler (39:23)

I did.

Colin Cowherd (39:23)

Okay. When did you know? I'm better than that guy. I'm better than that guy. Like when did you know? Yeah, I'm gonna play in this league.

Jimmy Butler (39:33)

I wouldn't say the combine was that, that situation for me. Combine helped me get more eyes and more exposure. I had broke the 40 yard dash record for the offensive lineman. Ran 4, 6, 5, 2. So look at that. Yeah. So that, that just helped me get my name out and got more people to watch my film. My college film had some static too, but it was more dvd. It wasn't VHS no more. So it's hard to see that too. But combine helped me tremendously. But as far as like which guy that I feel like I could play against where I'm better than never really been my, my thing. I went to the East West Shrine Game and then got invited to the Senior bowl the next week. So those two weeks were probably the most revealing for me as far as level of talent because I kept hearing that through the process. Your level of talent that you played against is going to be different than the SEC guys. So first one on one, I'll tell you a Quick story, first one on one at the Senior Bowl. I got there late. I line up. It's a DM from Georgia. I don't remember his name. And I'm like, this is my moment. I jumps at him, threw his ass five yards and jumped on him. Everything. Like, I blacked out. And that was my. Like, right then and there was my moment of, you can do this. You can play at this level.

Colin Cowherd (40:44)

I love stories like that. That. I love that stuff. The. You know, it's funny, we were talking during the break. I love Sean Payton. Sean Payton FaceTimed me last night in Indy. And you played for him for years. And he. He is very blunt. He and Russell Wilson. Russell's Mr. Optimism, Sean's Mr. Authentic Honesty. Like, it. It clashed.

Jimmy Butler (41:07)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (41:07)

You didn't like Sean early?

Jimmy Butler (41:10)

I didn't. I. I didn't like him at all my first three, four years. But I appreciated him. Like, I appreciated his coaching style. He was very direct, he was very aggressive, but he wasn't personable at all. Like, he. I couldn't say nothing to him. Couldn't make a suggestion or opinion or anything. Only time he talked to you was, if you messed up, that was it. Like he did. He was not a pat on the back guy at all. So as a young player coming from Arkansas, Pine Bluff, yeah. I was looking for a little. You know what I mean? A little something.

Colin Cowherd (41:43)

Yes.

Jimmy Butler (41:44)

But everything that he taught me in those first four years, it stuck with me, and it taught me what's important. Doing your job, execution. Play after play, game after game. I couldn't. I can't thank the man enough. And then later on, my last five years together, we became best friends. And I love him to death. The stories that he has and the moments that we've shared together. He went the extra mile for me. 20, 20. During COVID my brother passed away and we couldn't travel. So, you know, it was looking like I wouldn't be able to go to the funeral. And I'm like, I'm driving, if that's the case. But it's middle of the week, and Sean called me to his office, and he's like, Mrs. Benson. I told her the situation. We're taking her plane, we're going to the funeral. I'm like, what you mean, wait? He's like, I'm coming with you. We're going to the. And he came up to my hometown. Me, him, Dan Roshar. He just signed with the Bears as the O line coach. Alvin Camara and Latavius Murray. And we all went to the funeral together, and Sean was amongst the people, and he helped my family, like, genuinely had people laughing and smiling at really, the toughest time of our lives. So forever, forever grateful for that, man.

Colin Cowherd (42:56)

By the way, somebody said on the staff, they said, hey, Tehran is going to give you crap about Steph Curry, who dropped 56 last night. What are you going to say to me? I was very complimentary today of Steph Curry.

Jimmy Butler (43:09)

Yeah. No, so now that you mentioned it, and it's about eight years ago that you said this.

Colin Cowherd (43:16)

Eight years ago.

Jimmy Butler (43:16)

Yeah. I've been holding on to that. I've been waiting for you. Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (43:19)

So eight years.

Jimmy Butler (43:21)

I honestly don't even remember what you said. I just know at the moment I didn't like it. Like it one bit.

Colin Cowherd (43:25)

What'd I say?

Jimmy Butler (43:26)

It was. Is he. Is he. Can he win a championship, you know, by itself? Does he need X, Y and Z to do it? It was. It was something crazy. Just. Just outrageous.

Colin Cowherd (43:38)

And it just bothered you.

Jimmy Butler (43:39)

It. It bothered me so bad.

Colin Cowherd (43:41)

But you know what? It's funny about Steph Curry. He goes to Davidson, so none of us watch him. Small school. You and him have something in common. He has ankle issues. Ankle issues. He's not very good defensively at all.

Jimmy Butler (43:55)

My ankles. My ankle's pretty good. I heard everything else, but ankles were.

Colin Cowherd (43:58)

Good, but he was. He had to develop into something.

Jimmy Butler (44:02)

Yeah, I know what you mean.

Colin Cowherd (44:03)

And there was. There were talk they were going to keep Monta Ellis and. And move him like there. That was. Jerry west is like, we're not doing that. I think it was Jerry west or somebody in the organization. And the truth is, is that I do think the jet fuel to players like you and Curry. And I've said this about this year's quarterback draft. They're all getting crushed.

Jimmy Butler (44:26)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (44:26)

It. This is them all.

Jimmy Butler (44:28)

That's a fact.

Colin Cowherd (44:29)

And what makes Curry so great is that he just. He just always works at his craft. And I think sometimes. And I see this a little with Luca. Luca was so good at 16.

Jimmy Butler (44:41)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (44:42)

Beating European men. He's still not in good shape. Like, with. The harder things are to attain.

Jimmy Butler (44:48)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (44:49)

The more it fuels you for the rest of your life. Steph Curry will be Competitive golfing at 74.

Jimmy Butler (44:55)

That's a fact.

Colin Cowherd (44:56)

Because of Davidson.

Jimmy Butler (44:57)

That's a fact.

Colin Cowherd (44:57)

And. And go into your life. The fact you were doubted even today.

Jimmy Butler (45:02)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (45:02)

Does it take you. Because you were. I think you were graded top four, third best, top three tackle last year.

Jimmy Butler (45:08)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (45:08)

Does it still drive you crazy? Do you feel disrespected by that.

Jimmy Butler (45:12)

I do. I do. And that, that to your point, that's what drew me to Steph Curry. Like, to be a. Become a fan of Steph Curry is all the, the noise. And for him to use it as fuel and to work, like, to work, to work, to work to become what he has become. I, I took the same approach. I had to work overtime to go from Arkansas, Pine Bluff, and be a small school guy, underachiever, all those things, whatever, to be five time Pro Bowler, All Pro. You know what I mean? And it's still like you say to this day, third rate tackle this year, whatever, whose grades or metrics. But I just always got to prove myself. And I'm okay with that because I love the grind, I love the work, I love getting better, I love the progression. It's just a part of who I am.

Colin Cowherd (45:58)

So I've said this before. NFL's obviously rewarding financially offensive players over defensive players. But I've said there's a handful of defensive players in my life. Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, Aaron Donald, they're just different facts. Miles Garrett is pretty close to that. And my argument is if you give him a winning environment, he'll play even better. Like LeBron looks better now that Luke.

Jimmy Butler (46:20)

Is there, for sure.

Colin Cowherd (46:21)

I mean, Steph's playing better, Jimmy Butler's there. It's like they're showing off. Okay. Everybody's watching my games now. How many times have you faced Miles Garrett and physically, he should have more body fat at that size. Is he a tough matchup even for you?

Jimmy Butler (46:37)

Yeah, yeah, I've played him three times, I would say. I think we played the first time in 2018. That is a top three, one on one O line versus D line battle. I went and watched it again probably two months ago. It's a dog fight. I won. I did. I'm gonna just put that out there. I won't. But if you go back and watch that game, I got no help. He. He got no help. He lined up here, I lined up here and we went at it for the entire game. 2018. Go watch that.

Colin Cowherd (47:06)

So the next day when you wake up, be honest with me, right? Is it harder to get out of bed when you play somebody at that level?

Jimmy Butler (47:13)

For sure. For sure. That you get a physical dog fight like that, Somebody that's like. Really? It's like a train wreck. For sure. It says you feel every part of it, your neck, back, shoulders. For sure. No question about it.

Colin Cowherd (47:24)

By the way, Matt Stafford just reached an agreement with the Rams oh, wow. The Raiders came after him. But it was interesting. According to Diana Rossini, the Raiders only offered two years, which is what the Rams are offering. So the trade speculation talk is done. The first significant off season quarterback domino has fallen. The Rams and Stafford, according to Adam Schefter, have reached an agreement on a restructure structured deal. My guess is two years. I'm not sure about the money. Stafford's pretty unique. You know what I always appreciate about Stafford? A lot of these older quarterbacks don't want to get hit.

Jimmy Butler (48:01)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (48:02)

Matt will sit in there fearless to the last half. Second.

Jimmy Butler (48:06)

Fearless.

Colin Cowherd (48:07)

You've hit him a few times. I mean, you've. You hit him. You've been in games against Stafford.

Jimmy Butler (48:12)

Yep.

Colin Cowherd (48:13)

Are there. Is there a secret code the quarterbacks like Breeze was a smaller quarterback for sure as he got older. Tell me what it's like to protect like Tua.

Jimmy Butler (48:23)

Right.

Colin Cowherd (48:24)

We got concussions. He don't want to get. He don't want to get hit. Do you feel a responsibility because of Tua's concussions? Does that add pressure to you?

Jimmy Butler (48:33)

It's pressure playing that position anyway, being. Being the front line. Like, I, I had two smaller quarter. I've had two smaller quarterbacks in my career. Drew Brees and Tua.

Colin Cowherd (48:42)

Those have been your guys.

Jimmy Butler (48:42)

Those have been my guys.

Colin Cowherd (48:43)

Those are the. By the way, Tua breezes. Tua's comp.

Jimmy Butler (48:46)

For sure. For sure. And for good reason, too. It's not, it's not for nothing. He is that from that claw. So the stressful part, and it's real life stress, like it's anxiety that goes on in pass protection. That's like the worst thing in the world is to get your quarterback hit to me. So if I give up a sack, like, no matter how I've played for the rest of the game, it doesn't matter. My day is ruined. It's ruined. I get the quarterback hit.

Colin Cowherd (49:12)

You only gave up three last year.

Jimmy Butler (49:14)

I don't think two of those are on me. So we got to go back and watch the film. Yeah. That's a lot of factors goes into that.

Colin Cowherd (49:20)

Is there a guy in the league that gave you more trouble and he wasn't a high draft pick?

Jimmy Butler (49:26)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (49:26)

You know, we've always said this. There are guys in the NBA, they have maybe a weird body or whatever. But if you ask, players are like, I mean, I remember Dominique Wilkins telling me, he goes, I love playing mj.

Jimmy Butler (49:37)

Right.

Colin Cowherd (49:37)

I did not sleep playing Bernard King. Bernard could just say, I'm scoring 54 tonight. He goes. I couldn't stop him because I hated playing him.

Jimmy Butler (49:46)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (49:46)

Is there a guy in the league that you're like. Because Max Crosby talks a lot of trash.

Jimmy Butler (49:50)

He does.

Colin Cowherd (49:51)

And he's a fourth. I think he's a fourth rounder. Is there a guy in the league that you maybe not sleep quite as well the night before?

Jimmy Butler (49:58)

No, I. I would say I feel the same way as Dominique. Like, I would rather block Miles Garrett and Max Crosby.

Colin Cowherd (50:05)

Wow.

Jimmy Butler (50:06)

I would. I would. It's the. It's the guy that just got elevated off practice squad. I'm terrified of him. I'm scared to death. He is. He's in his stance. He got his. His leg is shaking. God damn. He's about to rush with everything in.

Colin Cowherd (50:19)

In his intimidating.

Jimmy Butler (50:21)

No, no.

Colin Cowherd (50:22)

The scouts who. You talk.

Jimmy Butler (50:23)

Who's the practice squad guy? That's. That just got elevated this week. They told him on Wednesday, hey, you're going to play this week.

Colin Cowherd (50:29)

You might not get me terrified.

Jimmy Butler (50:30)

I'm fearful. Yeah. I don't want to see him. Give me Max. Give me Miles Garrett. Yeah. With that practice squad. Got it just called up. I don't want no smoke with that young man.

Colin Cowherd (50:42)

He's got nothing but energy.

Jimmy Butler (50:43)

Nothing but energy. He's gonna run through my face mask over and over and I throw him to the ground. But I'm like, supposed to, so it's like, you know what I mean? He gonna get up and do it again. I don't want to see him.

Colin Cowherd (50:55)

You made your money. You can retire today. Yeah, but you play outside of quarterback, the most important position in the sport. If a good team called you up and said, dude, two years, would you. Would you go play?

Jimmy Butler (51:10)

I'm on a good team. So. No.

Colin Cowherd (51:12)

So you wouldn't. You were not gonna play.

Jimmy Butler (51:14)

I'm on a good team already.

Colin Cowherd (51:15)

Well, I know, but I mean.

Jimmy Butler (51:18)

So nobody else can call me you.

Colin Cowherd (51:20)

Would you? This is it.

Jimmy Butler (51:22)

I'm. Yeah. Dolphins only. Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (51:24)

And that's it.

Jimmy Butler (51:25)

That's it.

Colin Cowherd (51:26)

But you're. You're kind of pausing.

Jimmy Butler (51:28)

I'm not. Think it's natural, pauses in a conversation. You know what I mean?

Colin Cowherd (51:34)

That's funny. So what do you do now? You're young. How old are you? 33. Okay. You got. You got some money, You've had a career.

Jimmy Butler (51:45)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (51:46)

What do you do? What is an end up? Most people retire. I'm 60 and still working. The average person look great, man. 65, 66. You're 33 and can wrap it up. What do you do?

Jimmy Butler (51:57)

I weigh my options. Right. I feel like being in the league for so long, having a successful career and done. I've done well financially. It gives me cushion and room to make a decision like this and to see if I want to continue to go out and compete in pursuit of a championship. That's the goal like that. Honestly. Honestly speaking, that is. That's the goal. So it's. It's a lot of factors that goes into that. A lot of health, for sure. But then kids, my kids getting older. My. My twin girls about to be teenagers. Pray for me, please. So those type of things are factors for sure. The Dolphins have been incredible and graceful, allowing me this time. I know you've seen the contract restructure that we. We just came to. It worked well for all parties. It allowed me a little bit more time to think and allowed them to do whatever they need to do necessary to. To improve the team.

Colin Cowherd (52:45)

They've made you an offer, the Dolphins. Have you said restructuring?

Jimmy Butler (52:49)

Yeah. Yeah, we restructured. Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (52:51)

You haven't signed it?

Jimmy Butler (52:54)

Not physically.

Colin Cowherd (52:55)

Are you going to?

Jimmy Butler (52:56)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (52:57)

Again, you're pausing. What does that mean? You're pausing when I ask you, are you gonna sign the contract?

Jimmy Butler (53:05)

What the restructure is, is like, I took my projected salary down to minimum. Okay. So it allows the Dolphins to do with the new space, cap space to do whatever they need to do to improve the team. It allows me the time to make a decision whether I want to keep playing or not. So if I decide, hey, we're doing this, I'm locking in. Let's go. Then we have another conversation.

Colin Cowherd (53:30)

Okay. Matt Stafford broke news you could do it right after.

Jimmy Butler (53:33)

I could, but I want to let Matt have his day. Who would I be to take his shine? And then they only talking about me today, you know?

Colin Cowherd (53:40)

All right. You know, you've. You've had Sean Payton's intensity as a coach.

Jimmy Butler (53:44)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (53:44)

Dan Campbell's almost. He's a player.

Jimmy Butler (53:50)

Yep.

Colin Cowherd (53:50)

And now you've got this wizard, this, like MIT, Mike McDaniel.

Jimmy Butler (53:55)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (53:55)

Be honest about Mike McDaniel. First time you saw him, did you say he's gonna stand in front of us? He's a little different, right?

Jimmy Butler (54:04)

No, not at all. Not at all. My first time I saw him was. I was on a visit, so it was one on one, and he just came in. He came in with energy, man. He was. He was excited. He had just got there three, four days before, you know what I mean? So he didn't know where his pens and papers were. Yeah, he is. For sure. He's different. He's different, but that's okay because it's genuinely him and that's what I appreciate. It's not a front, it's not an act. It's him. And you spend time with him, you'll see that and you'll have a deeper appreciation for him.

Colin Cowherd (54:36)

Charon Armstead, you know you're always welcome.

Jimmy Butler (54:39)

Appreciate it.

Colin Cowherd (54:40)

You can always come by the show.

Jimmy Butler (54:42)

You come to my show, too. I don't have one yet, but one day when I do, you let me tell you something. Free to come through.

Colin Cowherd (54:47)

This is a dead end career. There's no reason to do this. You hang out with your beautiful twin daughters. Are they at. Are they athletes?

Jimmy Butler (54:55)

What are they? Yeah, basketball players. Best sixth grade team in the country. Going to AAU nationals again? Yep, back to back. We're doing it.

Colin Cowherd (55:05)

What do you weigh right now, by the way? That's personal. What do you weigh?

Jimmy Butler (55:07)

About 285.

Colin Cowherd (55:09)

What do you play at? 298?

Jimmy Butler (55:12)

300.

Colin Cowherd (55:13)

Dude, that's a light tackle for you to be that good at that weight.

Jimmy Butler (55:16)

Appreciate it. Strong.

Colin Cowherd (55:19)

What do you. This is a weird question. If I said max reps. Bench. What do you bench? This is. Sorry, it's a weird question.

Jimmy Butler (55:26)

What's. What's bench?

Colin Cowherd (55:27)

Huh?

Jimmy Butler (55:28)

I'm not benching no more.

Colin Cowherd (55:29)

You don't bench?

Jimmy Butler (55:30)

No. Not max reps. No.

Colin Cowherd (55:32)

No. You're just doing light stuff, trying to keep tone.

Jimmy Butler (55:34)

Yeah, I get what I need to get in a lot of Pilates and stuff like that. Really? How about that core strand?

Colin Cowherd (55:39)

How about that?

Jimmy Butler (55:40)

Yes. When I grab them, it's. Yeah. No getting away.

Colin Cowherd (55:42)

Okay. Matt Stafford is signed with the Rams. We'll say it again.

Jimmy Butler (55:46)

Congrats, man.

Colin Cowherd (55:47)

Yeah, that's. That's. So we said we thought the Raiders were in play, but in the end the Rams wanted that first Raiders pick and probably a second. And the Raiders said that's a little bit too much. So Stafford, whose legacy again? If you give him a second Super Bowl, That's Elway, that's Peyton Manning, That's Big Ben. Don't forget, how a quarterback's career ends goes a long way in forming that legacy. Right now Stafford's considered great. He becomes an all time great with a second super bowl. And the Rams are in that short little window where they could do it. This is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glazer podcast. On a more serious note, I'm still thinking about that commercial with Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg hating on each other. Because when you listen to the reasons for hating someone or something, you realize just how stupid they really are. There is too much hate in this country, and it's got to stop. So join us at iHeart in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up, call it out, and you can learn more by following oupwithhate. Check Engine light on. Take the guesswork out of your Check engine light with O'Reilly Beriscan. It's free. Ask for O'Reilly Beriscan today.

J. Mac (56:56)

Oh, oh, oh.

Colin Cowherd (56:57)

O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Jimmy Butler (57:02)

Make some noise for the greatest shooter.

Colin Cowherd (57:04)

Of all time, Steph Curry. We went live from All Star Weekend for a new podcast called the Greatest of Their Era, and we ranked our.

Jimmy Butler (57:13)

Top five shooters from the 2000s. Peja 5 Dirk 4 Peja is a loot.

Colin Cowherd (57:17)

You won't believe who Steph left off his list.

Jimmy Butler (57:19)

That's so tough. That's why we have these conversations. Yes, absolutely. Love it. Listen to Go t e Greatest of.

Colin Cowherd (57:26)

Their era on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

Jimmy Butler (57:31)

Are you hungry?

J. Mac (57:32)

Colleen Witt here and Eating While Broke is back for season four every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. This season, we've got a legendary lineup serving up broke dishes and even better stories on the menu. We have Tony Baker, Nick Cannon, Melissa Ford, October London, and Carrie Harper. Howie turning Big Macs into big moves. Catch Eating While Broke every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts. Wherever you get your favorite shows, come hungry for season four.