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Colin Cowherd (0:00)
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Jordan Schultz (1:03)
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Colin Cowherd (1:04)
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Jordan Schultz (2:13)
Now let's get this party started.
Colin Cowherd (2:14)
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh here we go. A lot to talk about NBA playing games start tonight 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. Jordan Schultz is here. J Mac is going to Be joining us here next week. He's on vacay right now. We love that for him. I just got off vacay, so I was thinking about this. There's a story that Cam Ward is one of the 17 players who's going to get invited to the draft. And Jordan, this is interesting. Every industry, you notice this. Every industry could be real estate, it could be NFL teams, it doesn't matter. It could be landscaping. There's like one or two in your hometown you trust, right? It's Uber, it's Lyft. If a third company came in, probably wouldn't have the impact. Very few elite, anything. That's why when you watch the draft once again, this year, it's the same teams. Cleveland, the jets, the Raiders, the Giants, the Panthers, you know, the Browns, the Titans, the Jaguars. It's always the same teams drafting at the top of the draft. In fact, if you look, in my opinion, there are eight teams that I consider sort of my circle of trust. Owner, gm, coach and quarterback. Only eight in the entire league. A quarter of the NFL. Baltimore, Kansas City, Green Bay, Rams, Philly, Niners, Detroit, Buffalo. They're not perfect. Sometimes they overpay, they miss on draft picks. Eventually some have had to fire coaches. But that's my circle of trust. Owner, gm, coach, quarterback. Mostly A's. Then there's a second group of teams that check a lot of boxes. But there's something I don't love. Denver, Seahawks, Chargers, Tampa, Vikings, Houston, and the Commanders. I think the Commanders could get to that tier one by the end of next year. But that's 15 total teams. That is less than half of the NFL. I've said this multiple times in the last year. NFL's becoming a little bit like the NBA. Very few at the top, small, middle, large bottom. And that's because in the NFL, quarterback is so essential now that if you don't have one, you're a have not. Well, what about the Steelers? They've won three playoff games in 13 years over backup level quarterbacks. Never an elite quarterback. In 13 years they've won a playoff game. Not one against the great quarterback. What about Indy? I like the gm, I like the coach, quarterback, owner, you can have them. What about Cincinnati? That's all about Joe Burrow. Take him out. Bad franchise. So New England, let's take a deep breath on Mike Frable. I think it'll work. But they've been bad for several years. So when you look at Cam Ward, Cam ward is the 1 player in the draft that can get Tennessee at least by the end of this year, because Will Levis was so bad, he could get them into the Tier 2 group, he could do what C.J. stroud did to Houston. So, so to me, he's a playmaker. It's a weak division. He's got an offensive coach. I look at Cam ward as the one guy in this draft of the 17 invited. He's the one guy that can change a have, not to a have. Abdul Carter is an excellent player, but do we really believe if he went to Cleveland with their quarterback mess, they're suddenly a tier one, tier two team? Earlier this week or last week on this show from the Athletic, Dane Brugler talked about it's not about landing Mahomes, it's just about getting in one of those top couple of tiers in the league. When you're, we were talking about quarterbacks in the, in the NFL draft, it's almost like you're making a bet, right? I mean, you're making a bet that this guy can be a top 15 quarterback in the NFL. And I think for most teams, they see Cam Ward as a guy that can be maybe a top 12, top 14 quarterback because that's what you're looking for. The goal shouldn't be to find the next Patrick Mahomes. The goal should be, hey, let's find a guy that's going to help us compete and let it help us get to the playoffs. Because once you get in the playoffs, anything is possible. And, and so as I look at this draft and I look at this league as a whole, there's only one way to go from chaos to a top tier group quarterback. Even a coach is limited. It's the quarterback. That's what Houston did. Nothing against D'Amico Ryan's, it's C.J. stroud. And to go from Will Levis to Cam Ward feels like you could make a seven. I mean, look at what Josh Allen did to Buffalo, what Burrow did to Cincinnati. So there's only one way to do it. You got to hit on the quarterback. And I think Tennessee will. So this has been a topic on another network on a very popular show. One of their hosts, popular guys, said, hey, international guy can't be the face of the NBA. And I thought a lot about that. But this morning it really hit me as Luka Dontich, former maverick from overseas, now a Laker, is the top selling NBA jersey. Steph and LeBron are right behind him. So I don't buy that debate because I think borders, at least in sports, are getting Erased. Everything is global now. And I want you to think about this. Shohei Ohtani does not speak English. He's the face of baseball. The UFC surged past boxing, and it was never more popular than when Irishman Conor McGregor was the face of the sport. MLS, their most popular player and their biggest draw today, Messi. And over the weekend, Northern Ireland's Rory McElroy became the face of golf. Now, you could argue it's Brooks Koepka, it's Bryson Dechambeau, but other players, including Phil Mickelson, chose to go to the live tour. That was polarizing, not to me, but to a lot of people, but to Tiger. And Rory remained with the pga. And because of that, and coupled with the Masters win at Augusta and he'll be the favorite at the British Open played in Northern Ireland, I think it's fair to say that Rory McElroy is the face of golf. Oh, by the way, Alexander Ovechkin had certainly an argument over the last 20 years with like a Sidney Crosby. He was the face of the NHL, certainly recently the most talked about. So all these sort of arbitrary borders I think get erased in sports. And I think Luka Dontich is a very, very unique player. One of the things America really likes more than anything. We're the country of winners. We, we keep track. And Luca with the Lakers. If Steph and LeBron retire tomorrow, he's a trash talking international player. Okay? That wasn't what international players used to be. Luka is much more like us than any international player. He trash talks fans, he trash talks refs. That's what quote our players do. Most international players would come over, they were very polite, overly loyal, worked hard, much like Wemby, tried to basically disappear when they weren't at the arena. But Luca coming to Los Angeles is a bigger star. He's a trash talker. He's a scoring wizard. The beer after the game, they pulled out of his hands. He was part of a controversial trade. Now he's at the NBA's biggest brand. He's us. He gets along with LeBron, he gets along with Austin Reeves. He's us. So I don't, I don't buy into this. Rory can't be the face of golf or Shohei or Messi or Conor McGregor. The bottom line is America loves winners. That's what we're into. I say Michael Jordan, you think six for six. LeBron's got all the records. Michael six for six. Tom Brady, all the trophies. Is Tom the most talented? Can Tom do what Josh Allen, Lamar Patrick Mahomes can do. No. Tom's the ultimate winner. And if Luca. Yes, if the Lakers, and I think they have to be a favorite or a co favorite to get the NBA Finals, if they win a championship, Luca will have played very well and I think more than Jason Tatum, who by the way, this morning I looked it up. Jason Tatum is the 10th most watched player on YouTube Highlights. 10th with the best team. He doesn't have the aura, he doesn't have the personality. He's not a trash talker guy over my shoulder right there on FS1. Luca is so international. Guys have assimilated. They become more westernized. I said this a couple of years ago with Giannis when Giannis said basically, get me a good player or trade me. That was a very domestic move. That's what our stars do. That's what LeBron does. That's what the late Kobe Bryant did. I'm going to Chicago. If you don't get me somebody. They got him, pal. Gasol. Giannis is basically, get me a better player, I'm out of Milwaukee. That's not what international players did. My entire life watching this league, that's what they do now. Now they berate fans and trash talk refs and are polarizing. Nothing says America more than that. All Luca needs is a trophy because that's all Shohei Ohtani needed, a trophy to be the face of baseball. All right, We're a very connected world in 2025. You know, listen, our. Our government may have it out for Canada, but when Steve Nash was in winning MVPs, Steve Nash was us. Nobody really cared. We got a lot of stuff going on. You know, the warriors play tonight, and if the warriors playing Memphis don't win tonight, Jordan Schultz, what do we make of them? Because they. They feel a little bit like the old couple at the nightclub. I mean, if you really look at them, OKC is young, Minnesota can be young.