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Colin Cowherd (0:00)
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Colin Cowherd (1:25)
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Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Tuesday. A lot to talk about live. 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. I was thinking about this coming in, in what we do for a living. Whenever there's like a big trade or like the NFL draft, everybody's always J. Mac saying this team won the trade, this team lost. And. And the biggest trade in recent memory is Luka to the Lakers for ad. And there's a feeling is Dallas will be terrible and the Lakers will win several titles. But they would not have traded Luca if he was in great shape and was an unbelievable defender. Well, then he'd be LeBron. You wouldn't trade him. They traded him for a reason, because they saw holes in his game, which by the way, he'd missed the last two camps. He had multiple injuries. So here's what's interesting. When LeBron leaves, then he comes back and he's not at 100%. Lakers are trash. That's funny because LeBron, even way past his prime. LeBron has won without AD, has won without Austin Rivers and won without Luca, won with bad coaches. But Luca without LeBron or LeBron at 100%, Lakers get throttled by bad teams. Why is that? That's why Dallas let him go. And I wouldn't have but this idea that luka was like LeBron, elite defender, elite leader, elite offensive player, elevated everybody build a franchise around him, no flaws. That's not what Luc is. And you're seeing it here is Luca without LeBron. They've lost seven of 10. Or Luca now with LeBron not quite in game shape, not quite at 100%, they're getting throttled by bad teams. And this has always been my several year argument. If your company doesn't resign you, even if you're talented, they see a hole in your game. This is why I argued for years. Carmelo Anthony is a great all time player, hall of Famer, didn't elevate teammates, didn't play defense. Luca is a much better version of Carmelo, by the way. Carmelo and Dominique Wilkins and Luca, great scores. None of them defend at that level. Kobe and MJ are great scores. They had a different mindset. And you're going to get points with Luca. Defense, forget about it. Elevating everybody. He'll elevate some players, he'll take the ball away from others. LeBron's also a great on court coach and leader. Lucas talking is often barking at refs or trash talking. And by the way, that's part of basketball's culture. It doesn't bother me. But LeBron talking and Luka talking are two different things. I mean, JJ Redick has complained multiple times. Yeah, we don't communicate when LeBron's out. Well, isn't that where Luca should step in? Luca's game is much more individualistic. He is much more an individual star, more of a lead singer in a band who can occasionally step back, you know, and let. And let the bass player have his moment. But he's a lead singer. LeBron's always been more magic than Michael or Kobe. He's much more an orchestra leader, elevating everybody, much more magic, stepping back, making sure there's a rhythm and spacing. LeBron isn't a trash talker. Luka is. LeBron doesn't spend a lot of time barking at refs. Luka does. LeBron moves furiously without the ball at times. Luka doesn't. LeBron defends. Luka has very little interest, more of a hobby than a vocation. And that is not to say Luke is not great, but if you're at a company and they're like, yeah, we're going to move on, it's not always the company was wrong. Again, I'll make this argument. Charles Barkley's made it. When Dallas is totally healthy, probably next year, they have a chance to get to the finals. Ad I mean, Kyrie, even, even Max Christie can play a center rotation. The kid out of duke. The minute LeBron's not around, the minute LeBron's not at 100%, what's J.J. reddick complain about? We don't communicate. We don't rotate as well. Well, they do when LeBron's there and Luke is not. And this is the difference. Maybe this is just the difference between, like MJ and Barkley. You know, one was always in great shape, one defended. They both scored a lot of points. But there is a gap between all time LeBron and all time. Luca, don't kid yourself. There is a major gap. And they've lost three of. They've won three of 10. And this is not 100% LeBron. So again, the way we do it in sports, this team got nothing in return. And this team got the greatest player of all time. But it is interesting, in the last 10 games, seven, no LeBron. And now you're getting, you know, guy who missed a couple of weeks, he's acknowledging he's not quite right defensively, not quite right. Cardio wise, they're not very good. And here's JJ Redick after losing to Orlando last night. I don't know, we just, like, we look tired And I don't know what contributes to that. That happens periodically throughout a season where the group gets tired. That's what it feels like right now. You know when they don't look tired is when LeBron is playing, not injured 100%. You never hear that the team looks flat, doesn't communicate, looks tired, when LeBron's not at 100% and the Lakers look tired and can't beat Orlando. It's funny how that works, isn't it? So this is something I talked about yesterday on the show, and I don't think it's a conspiracy theory. It is easy right now to rip Aaron Rodgers. What is he making people wait for? So yesterday I brought this up on the show is I think Aaron's too smart to look at Pittsburgh and go, this is perfect. He flew there to the Steelers and he didn't leave with a contract. Now, he may sign by the end of this rant, but he didn't sign for the great Pittsburgh Steelers. And Albert Brer had a story today that Aaron Rodgers is telling friends, we talked about this yesterday. He's looking for a better culture. He, he, he looked at Green Bay and realizes not only a good culture, but an offensive culture. And this is what I said. I think Aaron Rodgers is sitting around for a couple of weeks and I think he's right. Waiting on the Niners, Brock Purdy. I don't think the Niners are going to pay Brock Purdy 59 million a year. And that, according to his agent, is what he wants. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but Aaron needs to go in another darkness. Retreat. Aaron needs to hide, avoid commitment, plan an excursion, call your travel agent. If people use those anymore. The Steelers is fool's gold. Tomlin can't figure out the offense. It's been seven years. Forget about it. And 59. Listen to this. It was 66 the year before. 59 quarterbacks played last year. There will be opportunities. You could argue Kirk Cousins should have waited last year until after the draft and not gone to Atlanta. But he signed in March and then Atlanta drafted a quarterback. Is it the worst thing in the world for Aaron to not sign? Wait on the draft, see how the dominoes fall and somebody could go, guys, we didn't get a quarterback. We're in trouble here. Now. Now, I think you can fairly say, and this isn't really a criticism of Favre and Aaron Rodgers. I mean, Green Bay is pretty small and sleepy. Is that maybe they didn't appreciate it. Grass is greener, you know, Friendly media, good organization. That's not a real criticism. I can see somebody playing for 15 years in green Bay and thinking, man, I'm kind of jealous of those New York, Louisiana, San Francisco, you know, big city teams. I get that. That's not a criticism. But I'm not giving Brock Purdy $58 million. And one of the reasons I've said this before on this show, if you wonder if you're making a great move, you could be a TV executive, you could be an NFL general manager. If you are about to make a big move, what does your rival think? And you know who would be okay with Purdy getting 60 million a year? Sean McVeigh. He'd be really okay with that with his young defense, little Brock Purdy, not a big arm. Brock Purdy, Sean McVeigh would be just fine having Matt Stafford for two more years and they're locked in on a $60 million a year Brock Purdy deal. So it, it, it's, you know, I, I just look at this whole thing. Is that Aaron. Multiple reports said he really wanted the Vikings offer. Why? Because of Kevin Oconnell. It wasn't the receiver, it was Kevin Oconnell. Offensive coach Aaron last year in his last 10 stars. Do you realize this? With arguably the worst coaching staff in the league, certainly the worst offensive coaching staff in the league, and a mediocre online had more touchdown passes and a higher passer rating than Brock Purdy. With Kyle Shanahan, I honestly think. And again, he could sign with Pittsburgh today. I know you don't have to like Aaron. You can be resentful about his vaccine status and his whatever, but he's not a dummy. And when you see those pictures in Malibu when he's listening to stuff, I think he's sitting there thinking Minnesota would have been great. I know the division. I love the coach. I love their weapons. O line got upgraded significantly in Minnesota in the off season. I think he looks at Pittsburgh and so much of it sounds good. Steelers defense, Mike Tomlin, battle line lost their left tackle. Two high maintenance wide receivers spend more money on defense than anybody in the league. Is that really a great fit? Does, does, does Aaron feel like a Pittsburgh guy? He loves Malibu and he loves New York. And if the Giants were humming, he'd probably sign there. But I, I, this Albert Breer story that Aaron is talking to people like he wants, the organization is key, not just the personnel. And I think once Minnesota said no thanks, I think San Francisco something to keep your eye on again. Kirk Cousins signed in March he would not have signed with Atlanta in April, late April after the Pennix, they wouldn't have signed there. Kirk Cousins now is looking for a new team. Aaron could think, well what if I signed blank? What if Pittsburgh, I signed with Pittsburgh and all of a sudden somebody falls and they end up picking a quarterback mid to late first round Jackson dart. What am I doing here? I, I'm just, I'm saying I'm not, I'm not advocating for in season ayahuasca but another darkness retreat is not a terrible idea for Aaron Rodgers. Take a deep breath. Go hide for a while so J. Mac, I, I'm still, I, I don't mean to gloat but 15 of 16 teams left in the tournament. I, I couldn't sleep last night. I just had, I had Tom Izzo, you know in my sleep last night. Very excited. Let's not get into that.