Colin Cowherd Podcast - HUGE NFL Free Agency Moves, SGA vs. Jokic For MVP? LeBron’s Spat With Stephen A. Smith

with Aaron Rodgers. Rams signed him to a two year deal for pretty hefty money. Well, they're moving off Cooper Cup, so why go after DeVante Adams Because the Rams, much like the Warriors, wanted to get somebody on Steph Curry's timeline, Jimmy Butler, a veteran who can win now, and the Lakers wanted to do it. You know, they didn't want to give up Anthony Davis for a kid. They want to win now. The Rams Sean McVay think they can win a Super Bowl and DeVante Adams and Pooka Nikoua

will be the one and two wide receivers. Also interesting, they signed two to two at well to a one year deal for ten million y because he knows the system, he can run, he can get downfield. They don't want to break anybody in. They feel they got two years with Matt Stafford that he can play at a super Bowl winning level. So the Rams have been doing this. I've talked about this at great length. They're spending their money.

Chiefs do this. They're spending their money on offense and trying to keep their defense young, flexible, and less expensive. That doesn't mean Jared Versus isn't going to get a huge deal in a few years. For the Rams, you keep your stars. I saw Nick Bolton just got signed to the Chiefs linebacker. Excellent player, super rangey, great linebacker.

But you've got Matt Stafford, Kyen Williams, Pakua DeVante Adams, Tyler Higgsby a very solid B B plus tight end two to two at well in this sism knows the offense. They may go draft. They also signed left tackle Jackson to a contract, so they got Hevenstein Wright tackle Jackson, left tackle. They're spending all their money on offense right now, but it's a great defense. You could argue the defense is more talented, but it's very young and doesn't cost as much. So this is just you know, this is

the RAMS formula. You got a quarterback that can win the Super Bowl for the next two years, we're going to load them up with guys that know the system or know how to play, and so that's why you get the DeVante Adams Steele and I agree with it. I agree with that belief, which is when you have a Super Bowl winning quarterback, don't waste the years. You don't know what happened. Stafford's been inged up his whole career,

so get him ready to go. This defense last year which gave Jalen Hurts trouble in the snow or Hurts pass for under seventy yards. This defense is good enough to win a Super Bowl, but it wasn't offensively good enough to win a Super Bowl. So they're going to move off Cooper Cup. You'll have two number ones in Pook DeVante Adams. They'll probably draft another wide receiver. But

you've got it all. Now you got both tackles, your quarterback, star running back, better than average tight end, and now two number ones on offense and a great head coach. So the Rams deal makes sense. Another story Diana Russini reporting that the Pittsburgh Steeters are going to make a big run at Sam Donald, the most athletic in the prime quarterback available on the market. She said she still believes the Seahawks or the leader in the clubhouse. So

I think about this stuff all the time. And because I've bounced around in my career, and what do I consider when you're moving around and you have options. I always consider the management just as much or more than the money. And for Sam Donald, I'd be very wary of Pittsburgh. I do not think the Pittsburgh Steelers currently possess the ability to get the most out of a quarterback. That doesn't mean Sam Donald couldn't be a Steeter and

be pretty good. But there's about six or seven, maybe a few more, but six or seven teams in this league that I think are you uniquely equipped to get the most out of any quarterback, whether it's a star or a B quarterback, Sam Darnold B plus the Rams with McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco Andy Reid, Kansas City, Sean Payton getting the most out of bow Nicks, Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota. There's more, but I'd say there's seven or eight organizations. Philadelphia has done a good job where

you know, the O line, the coaching, the coordinating. They put a lot of resources around the organization to help the quarterback. I do not consider the Pittsburgh Steels one of those. We'll see how Ben Johnson works in Chicago, but you know, historically, even recent last decade, Chicago's not equipped to help a quarterback be his best. Again, it doesn't mean Mitch Trubisky can't get into the playoffs, but the Bears have shown time and time again they lack

of sensibility. They can be tone deaf. It's more of a defense first organization. Pittsburgh Steelers have led the NFL in defensive spending for I think three years guaranteed. Maybe it's so that's just the organization, that's the coach. They can't get the offensive line right. McVeigh has gotten the offensive line right, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, those guys need one off season to get it right. Steeter's been trying to get it right, and they put draft capital in it,

They've spent money on it. They still can't get the online right. So I think for Sam Donald, you have to consider that I'm not saying Seattle is a great offensive organization. Mike McDonald's a defensive coach, but the GM John Snyder, I mean, he just doesn't miss on wide receivers. You go back to his history. He gets wide receivers right, he gets running backs right. I like Seattle's offensive personnel, and I'm not absolutely sure Darnald would crush it there.

But I have more confidence in Seattle than I do Pittsburgh, which is telling you I have very little in Pittsburgh. Little confidence in Pittsburgh offensively to get the best out of any quarterback. Again, I'm not saying if you would have put Brady in Pittsburgh, he wouldn't have been successful. But there's a reason that he and Bruce arians want a suit. They're just coaches that are better at this stuff.

So that's where we are today. You're going to get more and more information coming out, probably by the time this airs. But I think that Donald story is interesting. I would guess it's probably sixty five thirty five sixty forty Seattle over Pittsburgh. They're both very good rosters, both the Seahawks and the Steelers, and Donald will have in both instances, especially Pittsburgh. You're not gonna have to outscore everybody.

But when you're in a division with Labar Jackson and Joe Burrow, you know you need to have an organization that really gets offense, and I don't think the Steelers do now. Diana also reported that the Seahawks will come in contact with Aaron Rodgers. So I thought Aaron played really well at the end of the year. But if you're giving me Donald or you're giving me Aaron Rodgers, I would take Donald, even though I think Aaron has obviously a much more impressive resume and at his best

can be better than Sam Donald. But Sam is at this point in his prime. He's much more athletic. I think he's more coachable. You don't get any baggage Aaron at this point. And listen, I was told by a source. I said this three weeks ago, or maybe a month ago, And I trust my source that when Aaron Glenn, the new Jet coach, moved off Aaron Rodgers. Remember Aaron flew out to New York thinking he was going to be

a Jet and Aaron gled said, we're not interested. My source said, the Jets told him we don't want that quarterback, and we just don't want Aaron the guy. It doesn't mean Aaron is Lucifer, but Aaron comes. He's a very moody guy and a very moody player. And I was told that by two people who played with him for the Packers. And so if you've got a young coach and Mike McDonald, do you want to saddle him with

Aaron Rodgers' personality. Aaron Glenn wanted no part of it because Aaron Glenn from Detroit knows how valuable culture is. So Seattle is building their culture and I think Aaron's not a good fit for that. Now. When he went to New York, Robert slafelt he had the culture built. He needed a life preserver. It didn't work. But that's not what Seattle's looking at. Seattle is saying to themselves, Hey, we may draft a quarterback this year. We'll certainly draft

a quarterback next year. It's a much better college quarterback class. But we got a roster here that can win, and we think our staff we got two good backs. Noah fant You know receivers. John Sneyder either drafts some or acquires him. He's good at that position. The old line is good enough, defense is young and talented. We think Sam can keep us going in the direction that we want to build. So I think Aaron's a long shot to Seattle, but he's been so talented, and he did

play well in the last ten games. I think you talk to him. I mean, if Darnold's camp wants forty five million and Aaron's willing to play for less, okay, then you go with Aaron. So Sam's to me talented, but his contract should be closer to Baker Mayfield than it should be to what Rock Purty will get. Even though I think Darnold's talented Pertty, he's going to get about forty eight million, probably close to it. I don't think i'd spend it on Sam, especially giving him, you know,

I'd give him two maybe a team option. Third. I'm not giving him for he just has one great year and a lot of questions. Speaking of Aaron Rodgers, there's stuff trickling out that Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson will end up with the New York Giants. Say it out loud. Old quarterbacks going to organizations to be a savior. It doesn't work. It didn't work with Aaron with the Jets. It didn't work with Russell to the Denver Broncos. You can be an older quarterback and go to a really

good roster Stafford La Tom to Tampa. But this Aaron Rodgers to the New York Giants. Wow, I'd consider retirement that organization. You've got a coach and a GM that could be gone before Thanksgiving. Offensive line has issues. They have one weapon, the running games week. The division's excellent. Now that Jayden Daniels appears to be Lamar Jackson of the NFC. You know, it always ends the way it should for quarterbacks, right, what you put into it, you

get out of it. And if Aaron Rodgers signs with the New York Giants, this is how it should ended. Superstar level quarterback talent, limping to the end, wobbly to the end with the Jets and the Giants without much of a market. And for the record, he was very good in his last ten games. Don't kid yourself with a really weak NFL coaching staff. Aaron Rodgers did a good job with the Jets last ten games. Where's the market? Whose fault is that? When you're when you're a pain

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no Ruiy Hachimora. This could be a tough one, but I also felt there's two things I want to talk about. Number one is I thought the Lakers looked tired in the second half. I thought they just gave you everything they had in the first half, one of the best first halfs of the NBA. Seedon. It was a great first half. Lugan didn't played particularly well, but it was a great first half. And I thought in the second half the Lakers ran out of gas. And if it was at home, maybe it's different. But I fly a

lot flying from LA to Boston. I don't care how good the seats are and how comfortable you are. It takes its toll and the pace the Celtics play at I thought it wore the Lakers down. So that's my first take, and you can address that before we get into the Luca Tatum stuff. Just the fact that no Jackson Hayes, no Ruie on the road. They played a pretty frenetic schedule, I mean over the last couple of weeks, and I thought they ran out of gas.

in several different games. That said, within the context of that particular game, it was kind of interesting to me to see the juxtaposition of that one with the first time these two teams played. The first time these two teams played, the Lakers play, Lakers played an excellent defensive game and Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum couldn't get anything going.

And in the Lakers controlled this game. The Boston Celtics put together a beautiful defensive game, and Lebron and Luca can't get anything going.

it after the game. Al Horford is a big body that slides his feet well, and he has always done well against bullyball players, even going back to Joel Embiid and Giannis and Tenecumpo. Al Horford is some of the best reps against those guys that you'll see in the playoff context. Lebron and Luc are bullyball guys, and al Horford was just having none of it, and he put

together just a beautiful defensive game. In that second half, they were much more deliberate about attacking the Celtics guards, and you got to see how they can have some success. And that's really it. Like both of these teams, I actually think, interestingly enough, these are the only two teams in the NBA that can put together five man groupings

where you really can't leave anybody open. When Ruy is healthy and Dorian finished with is healthy, and when the Celtics have Chris Hops Worzingis and al Horford healthy, when they're healthy and put together like even the Knicks, you can help off of Josh Hart, like with the Thunder, you're gonna give late contests to guys like Lou Dort that you're not super worried about. Yeah, these are the two teams, teams that can truly space the floor and

force you to play one on one. And if there was one defensive reality from the Lakers in this game, they've guarded really well when they can offer help from behind in their kind of swarming, switching defense. Boston, they really leave you on an island because if you help. It's like Luca got caught a bunch of times in the first half of that game helping in on drives, easy kickouts, and he was giving up threes. You cannot

help with Boston. You cannot help with the Lakers. It turns into a one on one contest, and the Celtics just did a much better job of it in this particular matchup.

He's never been in great shape. But my take was La gets you in better shape. The lifestyle is different and Lebron and the pressure, you know, to kind of impress Lebron. You can see Steph showing off with Jimmy Butler. Lebron's kind of showing off with Luca. I mean, it's just it's it's ego, it's fun. You finally got your match. And the players I meant, Steph is more efficient. Lebron's playing with an energy of a twenty seven year old. So so, but somebody pointed this out to me yesterday

because I watched the entire game. They said, look at the energy of Jason Tatum on both ends of the floor, and Luca has bad stretches like right now, like he has these four or five minutes or longer moments on the floor and you're like, bro, you're just you're a negative right now, like you're you're just getting beat off the ball. And do you think this is something Luca

because you're nodding your head, you're seeing it too. Does Luca play himself in the better shape or did Dallas with their concerns about these consistent calf injuries about not being in shape and lifestyle. Do you think we're getting eighty percent in Los Angeles of Luca that some of the videos on the internet that show him three years ago through he was tomahawk in it and you're like, not really quite what I see? Now? What is your take on where Luca's at and where he'll end up as a Laker.

gonna take a little while to get there. I actually think it'll be somewhat there's a little bit of a blessing in disguise with the Lebron injury, because Lebron has been going full bore since like mid January, and it was kind of inevitable that there'd be some sort of nagging thing that would arise over the course of this stretch. And I actually think it'll be pretty nice for Lebron to get like a month off here, a couple weeks off here, just to take a little break before the postseason.

That'll get more time for Luca to really lean into usage, to really lean into having the ball in his hands and build his rhythm back. That said, like, this goes back to the Dallas series. The Dallas Series is a different type of challenge the Dallas Boston series. In the finals, it was a different type of challenge because Boston had all sorts of dudes that they could help off of. They were putting chrisops Porzingis onto PJ. Washington and Derek

Jones Junior and leaving him under the basket. The Lakers will be able to create more space for him, But he wasn't even getting past Jalen Brown for the most part. Last night, like just one on one, Jalen Brown had him in clamps and was bringing a ton of physicality, and like, there's this kind of recurring theme I've seen ogn Andobi did a little bit on Thursday night. I don't know if you I caught the Knicks game, it was kind of a little bit similar in that game.

All the way back to the second round series with Oklahoma City last year, lou Dort gave Lucas some issues. Lucas struggles with the really big and strong forwards that can guard, and so there's a little mini challenge here. If the Lakers are going to be able to defeat a team like Boston in the finals, Luca's going to have to overcome the Jalen Brown problem. But as far as the big picture goes, he's twenty five years old.

He's playing alongside one of the greatest work ethic dudes you're going to meet in the league, one of the greatest take care of your body type of dudes that you see in the league. I think Luca's going to get to a level of better conditioning. That said, I don't think he's going to be the dude who had like seventeen dunks in his rookie year. I think those shit, I think that shit might have sailed.

best is a better, more natural offensive player. Hell, if you gave me one quarter to win it all game seven, I take Lebron over Jason Tatum. I actually would. But he's a great player. He's going to be a Hall of Famer. He's a nice kid. But I've said this, there are games where I'm like, where is he? Is he on the floor? Now, this was not one of them. He was terrific and I've watched him now play live three or four times. I get to the arena early

he's the first guy on the floor. But it is interesting. People get very upset about this, and I've said this in the Olympics, when you're playing with the world's best players. He was a coach's decision do not play against Serbia, and he had two in the gold medal game, and that Lebron and Steph flourished in those games. So there are players that sometimes are around great players. Lebron was like this very early in his first Olympics. He was like,

finally it opened up more of Lebron. And then there are players that actually love playing within a system. I think Jason is one of those players. I think his God, his DNA is he's a teammate. You know, he likes being part of a collective. He chose Duke so he could play with other great players, right like like Shryzewsky makes you play defense. He was there with the you know, Grayson Allen, Luke Cannard, if I'm remembering right, Like, so,

my take is I think he's a star. I think the NBA's only ever had three true faces of the League, Magic, Michael Lebron. I think Bird was a reluctant because he was conjoined with Magic. He was facing the league, but Magic was the face of the league. He he loved it. You know, French Lick, Indiana pimples on the face, grumpy Larry Bird didn't feel face of the league. But you know you join him at the hit with Magic, and

it's like Okay and Shaq and Kobe. I think you could argue as a pair or face the league for several years. Duncan never was a team, never was. Karl Malone never was. So what do you make of kind of my criticism of Tatum. It's not a criticism. It's more like, listen, at any one time, the NBA has two faces or one face of the league, two global stars, and about fifteen other stars Carmelo Anthony, guys, is that unrealistic to say? No?

He's a good defender, but he's not what Kawhi Leonard was in his prime, and he doesn't really have a very big personality, So like it's really hard to like put together you know, something specific about Jason Tatum to like market really well as far as like face of the league type of stuff that said, like he's really good at all of those things. Still yees, he's become like just by virtue of him being a jack of all trades, he's become one of the most useful players

in the entire NBA. This has kind of been the interesting trajectory of Jason Tatum's career if you go back into early years in like eighteen nineteen twenty. In those years, Tatum was like projected to be one of the best shooting forwards in the league. He had some unbelievable jump shooting seasons during that stretch. Then what happened was is he started to bulk up and he got really big and strong, and it greatly improved his defensive versatility. He

improved as a playmaker. But in that stretch twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, his jump shot fell apart and became super unreliable to the point where it was like sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't. Fifty in a playoff game, he'll have seventeen in a playoff game, you know, Like it became one of those

things where he couldn't rely on the jump shot. Honestly, I think think the Team USA situation right off of the heels of last year's playoff run, as he shot very poorly in the playoffs on jump shots and then he shot what for sixteen with Team USA. I think he got humiliated and spent the entire summer in the gym, and he's added like a reliable jump shot to the Swiss army knife that he already was, and now it's one of those things where, like I agree with you,

I think Jokic is better. I think Giannis is better. I think Shay's better. I think Luka Doncic is better. I think if you asked like league average role players alongside all those players, I think Tatum is behind those guys. But I do think he's closer to that tier or in that tier at the bottom as opposed to the next set of guys. Like when you look at the next set of guys like, I think Tatum brings more on a night in, night out basis than Anthony Davis does.

I think Tatum brings more on a night in night out basis than that next tier guys, Kevin Durant, Lebron, James Stephka. I think he deserves credit for being like a foundational, reliable, you can count on this dude type of superstar. But I also think everything you said regarding he does not have a flash point in his skill set. There's nothing on that. There's not well think about that. You can close your eyes.

off for forty. Of course, this week Jokich had a you know, a thirty twenty twenty plus game, right, It's I think it was the first time ever in league history, and somebody to do that. So I love Jokic. I thought he should have won three straight and Bead was sort of gifted one. But I'll tell you why I would give it to Sga. I'd give it to Shaye. So I've said this on many occasions. Words matter, and get in trouble for the wrong word, but you have

to watch the words. It's most valuable. Now. Production is a huge component to value, right like valuable is I mean, I always say this, Moms are usually the most valuable person in a house. Dad may make more, the kids may have a brighter future. Mom's the MVP, she's the glue, and she's super productive, right Like, at least in my house, mom was the most valuable player dad. My dad was the local optometrist. He paid the bills. So Jokic, you

can argue, is more productive. Okay, but he's playing with Gordon Porter, Jamal Murray and a coach that's got a ring thanks to Jokich SGA, And this is about fifteen percent of it. As a better defender. SGA plays with a roster that is so young it only averages one year older than the Auburn Tigers roster. So he is playing with kids, and that matters. They're still figuring out how to play basketball. Not to mention chet Homekin, you know,

has been out for a while. I mean, you can argue outside of Shade, nobody else on that roster none of their best offensive players have even hit their prime yet. So and that's one of the reasons I worry about them in the playoffs winning big road games with this young roster. So based on the fact that his production isn't Jokic, but it's damn good. He's a better defender, he's carrying a younger roster and didn't have homegrun for a spell, I would narrowly give Shaye the MVP. What say you, So?

apart if the two players were removed. But that's never been the way that we've given MVP. It's never been sheer value in a vacuum. It's never been who's the guy that we think is the best player for a sixteen win playoff front, right, That's never been the way we've done it. It's always been a combination of a bunch of factors, team success, your individual value, like your reputation in the league. There's always been a narrative element that's regardless of how we want to pretend like it

should be factored in, it does get factored in. There's narrative, there's momentum, there's all of that kind of stuff. It's kind of like the Jokic thirty twenty twenty game. It's like, here we are two thirds of the way through the season, Jokic puts together a stat line that's never happened in NBA history. Hey, let's revisit this thing. Even though the thunder have been consistently a better basketball team this year, I think two things. One, Shay's having a much better

offensive season than pep are giving him credit for. You mentioned the youth. The youth for the thunder manifests an inconsistency. J Dubb is an incredible player. He is what twenty two or he's young. He's super inconsistent. Chet incredible player. He's young. He's gonna make mistakes. He's not a guy that's super dependable night in night out. He's shot twenty something percent from three in the series against Dallas last year. Shae is the grown up in the room. Shae is

the night to night guy. So many of these games break down for the thunder against good teams in particular, So many of these games break down where it looks like every single Thunder player is uncomfortable and a little bit like a little bit like kind of shying away from the moment and ches and Shae has to grab the reins and like control things and like as Chet's

been out of the lineup a bunch this year. As Jay Dubb has had a down shooting season and he's coming on as of late, but he's had a down shooting season. Shay's been carrying him through that. Shay has been the guy that has lifted their elite defense to the point where they can win games, and so I think he deserves more credit than that. The second piece

of it is a reality with Denver. Denver has lost a lot of games this year because they can't guard oh at all, and Jokic, for the record, in the twenty twenty three postseason, had a very good playoff run Defensively, he is capable of having good moments on defense. However, there is a simple reality with Jokic that causes a lot of problems for Denver's defense. He cannot switch onto perimeter players and he can't play on his heels back at the rim because guys just jump right over him

and go around him. That forces Jokic to come out to the level of ball screens and put two on the ball. So Denver persistently exists in rotation. They persistently exist in four on threes. That's how the Suns score on them so easily. That's how the Lakers scored on them so easily. That is the problem that they consistently run into is Jokic has to come up to the level.

When he comes up to the level, it's a simple pocket passer skip pass, and they're playing four on three out of it, and they just haven't been very good defensively this year on the back line rotating out of it, and so they just haven't been as good. Their defense is bad. Jokich is a significant part of that. I think that gets factored into this debate. And so when I really look at it in the big picture, there's not enough for Jokisch, even though I think he's having

an unbelievable season, arguably the best offensive season ever. But if you look at it, it's not enough to justify that twelve game gap in the standings and then to tie things up. Shades drop forty on them today as they got to win.

is going to be on it. It's just in my life. I can't always be in front of a TV, but I want to stay up to date on what's happening in sports. Fubo TV dot Com slash Colin fifty bucks off two months Fubo. And now for our next segment, Whiskey Business, brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the official whiskey of the Colin Cowhard Podcast. If you want to enjoy life simple pleasures, reach for Green River Whiskey. Whether it's Rye whiskey, single barrel bourbon, you're getting over

a century a craftsmanship packed into every bottle. Hop on over to Green Riverwhisky dot Com and discover a legend in a bottle today. You know it's God. I would have I thought. A month before it happened, I said, Warriors, just get Jimmy Butler. I don't care what analytics say. Steph is sleepwalking. And I remember saying, Butler's the anti Wiggins, Like every possession is intentional, totally intense, everything's a street fight.

I always thought Wiggins was talented, a little passive. You know, you didn't know possession of possession if he was engaged I think we talked about this last time, so I thought Butler would be a big help. It is amazing there were eleven and two since Jimmy Butler arrived. What's interesting now, if you start looking at their playoff position, they could end up against Houston, which I think is the dream scenario for Golden State because Houston can't shoot,

Like that's the team you want to play. A young team that struggles shooting, you can beat Golden State. You know, they don't have a ton of offensive firepower from the perimeter outside of Steph Pods a little bit. But when you watch the Warriors, it's really interesting. Oklahoma City again is tremendous def team, but I don't trust them, okay seeing a big road playoff game. They're too young. I think Golden State has a lower ceiling, but an incredibly

high floor. And I think outside of maybe at Cleveland, Boston could go seven games with almost anybody. Is there a team let's just look ahead. Is there a team the Warriors would not want to face in the West and the playoffs that you just don't think is a good matchup at all. Well, that's an interesting question because Dallas, if healthy, would be tough with Gafford Lively ad they're center rotations great, They're a big team, and I could see that team slowing it down and being just a

handful for the Warriors. But I think they're going to go into a soft tank here and just keep everybody out. I don't think it's a terrible idea. So Minnesota, if they had the twin Towers, you know, if they had Cat and go Bear could be problematic. But I sort of look at the West, I'm like, I don't know, is there a team.

making mistakes. And there were so many role players for that team that were being asked to do so much more than they're doing now because there was no Jimmy, and Jimmy's come in and just like crystallize everyone's roles and everyone just has consistent minutes in the rotation. Now, and everything's coming together for them, they're gonna get out of the plane. In my opinion, if that's the case, it's the team that I would want to face if

I was. Golden State is a team that they can load up on defensively, and so I think a team like Denver, if they got the six to three matchup against a team like Denver, that'd be good. Memphis is another team like that that is a poor spot up

team that they could load the paint up on. The Other thing I like we talked about earlier with being able to bring Yokic up to the level Steph is that Steph is the guy that will consistently get Denver's defense into rotation, and now they have Jimmy Butler to be the guy that kind of helps pay off those sequences, as he's been so good in the middle of the floor this year. I think, yeah, I would lean towards

if I was. The problem with the Lakers is Lebron and Luca will just hunt their small guards all day long in space, and I think that that could be a problem for them and the Laker defense, like we talked about earlier, is keyed up on the ability to help off of people, and there are a couple guys for Golden State that they feel like they can help off of. So I think Denver if they got into that sixth spot, I'd be looking at if Denver slipped to the three as a potential matchup that they could upset.

Houston and Memphis, to me, are both gettable. I look at it as I don't know about how you feel, Colin, but I think there's a five team inner circle. I think it's Boston and Cleveland out east, and I think it's ok See, Denver and the Lakers out west. I think those five teams are the like if those five teams are the teams that have substantial chances to win the championship. Behind that, all of those teams I think

are pretty heavily flawed. Golden State has been really good since the Jimmy Butler trade, but they've played a relatively light schedule, so I'd like to see a little bit more before I decide where they kind of fit into all of this. Like the Lakers before they beat before they lost to Boston, they beat fourteen straight five hundred or better teams like that. That's how good the Lakers

were playing before that. Celtics game. I'm not going to bail on them because they flew across the country after a bunch of after a beatal schedule in last.

I do think they can enter into that group. But I just want to see a little bit more from them. But I think between Denver and LA i'd want to play Denver if I was then.

you got into this business. So you know. My first reaction is, Bronnie James is a Laker because Clutch Sports and Lebron James made sure everybody knew we want him to be a Laker. He was not a dominant college player. In fact, his size and skill set is really not that of an NBA player, but not a point guard. Not a lot of six to two off guards in NBA history, and right now he's not shooting particularly well. He's athletic, he's a good kid, smart. I think he

was draftable. It was one of the weaker drafts. I defended the Lakers drafting him a great draft. Maybe not in this draft, which was one of the weaker draft, but every fourth or fifth NBA draft. You know, this draft coming up is very domestic and very very interesting. At the top, there's some really good players from great programs. Last year was an international draft, and a lot of

projecting didn't have a problem being draft. You know, it was a bit of a flex for Clutch Sports on Lebron to get him in LA, kind of a power flex. And again, you're making eight million bucks. You were wedged into an organization that probably, you know, in most years, wouldn't have drafted a player of your skill level. I tend to defend journalists having the right to opinions, and people say, well, you know, it's it's you know, here's one of the things where I think Lebron James in

his mind is doing the right thing. Don't bad mouth my son. But I've seen many broadcasters get their kids into broadcasting and their kids aren't very good. Some are, some are not. And that's the reality of a public facing job. Mayor basketball player, sportscaster. You know you're not you know you're not. You know, this is not a job that's you know, you write annuities or you're in waste management. Like everybody knows his name. So my take is, listen,

you you have an eight million dollar contract. You're fair game, right that that's the way it goes. But you played basketball. No, Lebron his kind of ideology, the way he thinks. What was your sort of take on it?

I was in this like small role where I was doing taking all these catch and shoot threes out of the corner, and I was just having a brutal offensive season, and so I was struggling with it. And I heard this announcer who was announcing one of the games like talking junk about me in the broadcast, and I remember getting like super upset about it because I'm like, I'm

taking three hundred shots a day. I'm doing everything I can to fix this problem, and this like dude who has no idea what I'm doing, is criticizing the way that I'm playing, and like I think about that a lot from NBA players, where I get it, like me relative to an NBA player, even as someone who played me relative to an NBA player, I don't. I don't have the cachet or the or the reputation to be able to criticize the greatest basketball players in the world.

And so on a certain level, I sympathize with the plight. But then what you said is the is the most important context there. We chose a career that exists in the public view. I have a relatively small platform among the big shots in the media world. I deal with a shit ton of negativity every day. I can't even imagine what you deal with. We won't even go there. But there's just this outrageous amount of negativity. To your point, Colin, like, I'm living the dream. I love my job. I love

the flexibility that I have. I love that I get to talk about the game of basketball. This opportunity that you have given me has changed my life infinitely for the better. And so I would never sit there and hyper focus on this specific part of my job that's a negative because it's just so worth it. And that's really what it comes down to, is like from the NBA player's perspective, it's just the reality of the predicament

that they're in. They have this wonderful life that comes from being a professional basketball player, but it comes with this criticism. The second piece of it is, to me, the criticism is authentic and necessary. And I was thankful in Lebron's tweet thread that he included in there like hey, when players fail, we need to discuss it. And I'm so glad he said that, because here's the thing. Sports

are nasty. They're mean, they're violent, you talk shit, you step on each other to get to the finish line. It is inherently nasty, and there's a winner and a loser, and in order for us to discuss the winner and the loser, it inherently requires us to be critical from time to time. It is part of the job. If we came on every day and we just only said

nice things about players, we'd have no credibility. There's a certain amount of this to where it makes it mean more when we say a player succeeds if we also criticize them when they fail. My thing with it is like, just make sure you're doing your homework, Like if you're going to criticize someone, make sure it's based in the homework, you know what I mean, Because I got a certain point if you're just talking shit to talk shit. Now

we're entering down a darker path. But I've found this really fascinating because on one hand, I relate to players, but on the other hand, like this is just the reality of the situation that we're in.

defense sucks, it's hard. So what you're basically saying if you won't defend, and I feel this about Luca, is yeah, I'm kind of above that. Well, the utter ten guys aren't. So I've always thought when players don't commit to the defensive end, I think less of them. And you're kind of, you know, you're kind of sending a message to the teammates say you do that, I'll do the fun part.

And so that's one of the reasons I've always respected Lebron Is in his defense in the last twenty games, Jesus, it doesn't even make sense for a forty year old. So and I've always been a huge Lebron fan, and I actually supported the Lake drafting Bronnie. I supported Bronnie playing in that game so that father son record could

be set. I'm for it. I was a little critical when he had one good, really nice G League game and they quickly moved him up, you know, to the Lakers, and I'm like, guys, now you're asking me as a broadcaster to lie to the audience and I'm not going to do that. Is that he's not an NBA player, he may work himself into a you know, eighth ninth guy in a roster, and I'm rooting for that because I really do think Savannah and Lebron have done a

wonderful job considering this generational wealth. They're good people. They're grounded as much as you can be. If you're Ronaldo Messi Lebron Brady, right like, you just kind of bake in some of this shit. Ain't normal, right, So it's just interesting. You know, I think the audience wants me to have definitive takes and take a side. But I think Steven A. Smith does have a right to be honest about Bronnie. But I also get the dad part.

But I do come back to listen the minute you made that decision to wedge Brownie on to the Lakers. The most sacred part of sports is the uniform. You gave somebody a uniform, and many question whether he is uniform worthy. At the NBA level, Like you can say what you want that owners do and gms do, but that uniform, in any sport, that is what makes grown men cry. They work twenty years to wear an NBA uniform. Hell, it can be a ten day contract, man, If you get ten days in the NBA, for the rest of

your life. I was an NBA player, And so when you get somebody to put that jersey on for the

Los Angeles Lakers, there's gonna be some animosity. They got people going to say, wait a minute, time out, Now, come on now, And so it's it's one of those I know, I'm supposed to take a side on this, and I've said this to people privately, I don't talk about this that, you know, the Ukraine, Putin Zelenski, Russia, United States, it's way more complic I've watched more video on that story in the last six months than everything

except sports. It's there's a lot of complexity with NATO and the history of Russia and US, and sometimes, if I'm ever critical of the media, social media has made simplicity the go to apparatus, and I think Brownie stephen A Lebron, I think it's complicated. I think there's the dad thing, there's the history thing, there's the journalist thing. And I hated to see it because I love Lebron and I really like steven A. Smith. I like them both.

They're really good at what they do. And I know that's a considered a soft pedal, but that's how I feel about it.

and he's paying the price for his actions. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, I'm reading, I'm doing the lip reading when I'm watching Lebron, and he's saying like, like, keep my son out of this. And to your point, on a very basic level, Bronni is an NBA player with a large profile. He's going to get discussed. Like there's no universe where he's not going to be criticized like that, like and.

and he's lashing out. So on one hand, I'm like, Okay, I also support Lebron's right to confront stephen A and be like, hey, dude, what the heck, But like the specific point he decided to argue regarding his son, it's hypocritical because to your point, as soon as you elevate Bronny to this level, how could you possibly hope to protect him from that type of criticism. It's part of the deal. You've dealt. Dealt with it, Lebron. You, Lebron,

you are the most polarizing player in NBA history. Like this, you know this?

a father, and yet you would never know it. He's been a terrific father, a terrific husband, a wonderful businessman. He is such a good friend. I know two of Lebron's friends Lebron's a great friend, and could I argue that Lebron takes so much pride in being a father because he did not have that at home, that he is going to err on the side of overprotective. And I'm going to defend the hell out of Lebron for that right. I'm sorry now again. I maybe I'm wrong,

Maybe I'm too sympathetic. And my dad wasn't always around, but he was around enough that I had a dad, and he was a local town optometrist, and I was very proud, and he gave me multiple moments of wisdom and advice and a spanking or two when I when I turned the sprinkler on as he was trying to move it and Flack Flack black hit my dad as he had his white doctor jacket on heading to work and was soaked and had to go back inside. I got spanked that day. I was laughing hysterically for a while.

So I have these moments in my life where my father had a great impact. I mean, I was talking to a friend the other day about a moment that my dad said something. He was like, I was twelve years old. It has been with me my entire life, and so maybe I'm just being too overly sympathetic. But Lebron didn't have a father at home, and if he's airing on the side of, hey, man, I protect my family, this is it for me. Man, I'm this is a bubble that I am gonna if I if I'm airing

on the side of overprotective. I got Lebron's back on that. And that's the kind of stuff I think of as somebody that's divorced. Six kids are in my life. How do I be a step parent? I think about all that stuff. Maybe I'm too old and protective, but I just I think it's more complex than steven A is a bad guy and Lebron's a good guy and it's just that's not the way life is, right.

about just in overall player criticism. Just because the player is being unrealistic about the realities of his profession and the fact that criticism comes with that profession, it doesn't make it like I also relate to that player when he pushes back and when the player goes like to like today, Kevin Durant tweeted at Skip Bayless like, I also understand the reason why he might want to clap back, even though Kevin Durant should be realistic about the fact

that he's one of the greatest players of all time. Therefore media Yeah, so basically, Skip Bayles said that Kevin Durant looks like he's already mentally retired, and kat tweeted him and said, I guess that means both of us are washed.

Let me throw this out there, folks. The Steeler are going to sign DK Metcalf to a five year, one hundred and fifty million dollar contract. I'm just telling you I wouldn't do it, and I like DK Metcalf. That is way too much money for a wide receiver, especially for an organization that can't figure out offense. As always, Jason, your money, Thanks buddy.