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March 1, 2021 39 mins

Colin explains why it’s time for the Houston Texans to accept reality and trade QB Deshaun Watson. He discusses the Clippers end of the game collapse against the Bucks and why this reflects poorly on Kawhi Leonard. He also reacts to BREAKING NEWS out of the NFL J.J. Watt signs with the Arizona Cardinals. Plus, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban joins the show to talk about his star player Luka Doncic and when he realized how special he could be. 

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to
three eastern, nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd
at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This
is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on
Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a pack Monday.

(00:28):
It is great to have you in. We are live
in Los Angeles and this is the Herd. Wherever you
may be, however you may be listening Fox Sports Radio
iHeartRadio right here on FS one one hour from now.
Not only where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong,
but Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, we'll stop

(00:49):
by as well. It appears Joey Taylor that it's possible
a resonating voice in Houston is saying trade to Shaun Watson,
there is hope in Houston. You've seen the light well.
John McClean is a longtime columnist. He's been a columnist

(01:10):
of Oilers Texans for thirty years and he's covered everything
in that town. And everybody reads him, and this morning
he is saying trade him, and they should. Finally somebody
gets it. Remember how this game works. If you don't
trade him for free agency, two or three teams get

(01:30):
a quarterback. You don't trade him for the draft. Another
five teams get their quarterback. What happens. It's probably only
one team left that needs a quarterback. There goes your
bidding war. I could make an argument this is the
perfect time to trade to Shaun Watson. Number one. He's
coming off his best statistical year. What does that mean?
His trade value has never been hired. It's only two

(01:52):
years ago. People liked him a lot, but worried about
his injuries. He wasn't an elegant thrower. Now he's off
his greatest year. Number two is the Jets Dolphins in Carolina.
You've got a bidding war. You have bidding war. Jets
and Dolphins in division don't want to have to face him.
They'd rather have him. Number three, it's a very strong

(02:12):
year for quarterbacks in the draft. Next year's a terrible
year for quarterbacks in the NFL draft. This year is
a great year. Number four, Deshaun is completely healthy. Remember,
and I've said this about Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers has
one more injury, Deshaun has another injury all of a sudden,

(02:34):
you get that narrative. Well, you know he's his trade value.
He is getting older. And number five is the Texans
are rebuilding. They just let go of their center. They
just let go of running back Duke Johnson. They've already
said Will Fuller's not coming back. You're rebuilding. How do
you rebuild draft picks? You'd get a boatload. You don't

(02:55):
rebuild with free agency because free agents don't want to
go to losing teams. So everything lines up. Remember, sometimes
you just have to in life take the telescope and
turn it. The pandemic is a great example. You can
look at it every day as an obstacle or look
at it every day as an opportunity because you're shut

(03:16):
inside to be closer to your family. I mean, how
are you going to view it every day? You want
to be morose and you want to be negative, and
or you think to yourself, I'm gonna get as close
to my kids. We're off the treadmill. We're jammed inside.
We can't go out try what we've tried to do
in my family. The NFL is not the NBA you
see all the time. In the NFL, you trade the

(03:36):
star and you win the trade. That's how Jimmy Johnson
built the Cowboys. Their best player was Herschel Walker. Jimmy
Johnson decided on a jog in the afternoon, how do
we rebuild this thing. He's our asset. Let's trade our asset.
They ended up getting Pro bowlers and draft picks. The
New England Patriots in twenty plus years of that dynasty

(03:57):
moved off stars all the time. It's not ideal. You'd
rather have Patrick Mahomes forever. You'd rather have a top
running back Zeke forever. But this is not the NBA,
where if you lose a Lebron or a Kawhi, it's over.
You lost the trade. It's just a matter of how
bad did you lose it. That is not the NFL.

(04:17):
Sometimes in the NFL you just gotta rip the band
aid off. The Raiders did not get crushed in that
Khalil Mack trade. Had they not whiffed on their first
round pick for a pass rusher, they would have gotten
a Pro Bowl running back and a top five edge rusher.
They just whiffed on their pick, so This game is
not complicated. When a star wants out, the longer you wait,

(04:42):
the less you get back. If you wait through free
agency and don't take a call, you know, the Jets
will get their quarterback, or the Dolphins will get their quarterback,
or the Bails will get the quarterback. There's three teams
off the market, then the draft, four or five teams
off the market. Then you're left with no bidding war.
You got maybe one or two teams max. It's the
time turn the telescope around. Finally, a voice in Houston,

(05:04):
take calls, get it done. Deshaun Watson has reportedly told
them I will never wear this uniform again. Okay, guys,
if she says I'll never ever again, come back into
the house, if you live there, it's time to call
it a divorce attorney. You got you gotta get out
of delusion. It's time to call the divorce attorney, and

(05:25):
it's time for Houston to take calls. All right, So
yesterday afternoon I watched Milwaukee beat the Clippers. Clippers had
the lead down the stretch and lost at Janni's played
very well, but it's interesting what is happening to the Clippers.
Kawai now shoots twenty eight percent from the field in
clutch time this year. That's the worst in the league

(05:47):
minimum twenty five attempts. Worst in the league. Paul George
and Leonard were one nine in the last four minutes.
It's interesting with Kauai. He's what I would call a
great mercenary, a plug and play guy. You bring him in.
Cultures already there. You bring him in, he gets a
stop and he gets a bucket. He's great at that.
Darrell Reevus in the NFL was great at that. You

(06:08):
brought him in for a couple of years. He's a
great corner. Major team better. But in San Antonio the
culture was built with Popovich and Duncan. In Toronto very
well run, Kyle Lowry was the leader, the culture was built.
Raptors have been good for years. Then in Los Angeles
with the Clippers, Hey, Kawhi build our culture. Okay, that's different.

(06:32):
Now we all get that's different. Right. There's certain people
in my business you can hire. They're funny, they're talented.
It wouldn't build your franchise around him. And Kawhi as
a loaner. He's quiet, he's nonverbal, and we all know
he's nonverbal. That is, this is not a revelation, right,
So there's generally two ways to lead. You're very verbal,

(06:52):
you're very highly communicative, and if you're not, that would
be preferable. You do like the talking stuff. But if
you're not, you lead by example. Well, we know Kauhai
is not a lead verbal guy, like that's a given.
He's very very quiet, almost odd in that sense. Okay, Well,
a lead by example guy, Well that's not really him either,

(07:13):
lives in San Diego's repeatedly reportedly late to practice load management,
had his own trainer. Again, so he's not really a
verbal leader, and he's not really a lead by example guy. Not.

(07:33):
Here's the thing is that k D, Harden and Kyrie.
Why is their chemistry so good? Because KD is a
little bit more verbal and k D understanding the burden
or responsibility a star player has in any sport. Tom
Brady and Tampa, when you come down and you're the star,

(07:54):
there is a responsibility, especially as a veteran player like
a Brady, a Lebron, Kevin Durant, you're kind of the
grown up in the room. You're the highest paid, you're
the grown up, and Kevin Durant deserves a lot of
credit for making this whole thing work, even if he's
not playing all the time. There's a certain burden to

(08:14):
be the second best player in the NBA. You go
to Brooklyn and you got to build this thing. I mean,
Kyrie at one point just left and they kept winning
and then Harden comes in. It's like one basketball. Kevin
Durant deserves a lot of credit for this. Kevin's a
guy among players. He's very respected. Lebron James, Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis is quiet. That's okay. Lebron's the better player.

(08:36):
He's very communicative. But Kawhi is the best player like
a Durant, Lebron or a Brady. But he's nonverbal and
he's not lead by example guy. And I think the
Clippers keep waiting for him to like create this culture.
That's not what he does. I mean. Remember last year,
I was wrong on this. They had the best team,
that the deepest team, and the roster was ridiculous. It

(08:57):
went night nine deep. What was the thing they were
missing at the end? Chemistry? Once again, what are they
missing this year? They're bad at the end of games.
That's chemistry, that's communicating, being verbal understanding, not just talent.
They had all the talent last year. So there's a
big difference between being like Mookie Betts went to the Dodgers.

(09:20):
He's a great player and a culture center Mookie Bets.
I mean, we had Justin Turner on he's like, he's
on us day one, Trevor Bauer, the picture comes in,
he's just great. You're not gonna been a culture around
We got the culture, dude. His personality is not built
to build the culture. Milkie Bets is and it's okay,

(09:41):
not everybody is both. I mean again, Brady Lebron, Mookie Betts,
Kevin Durant. It's a short list. It is Steph Curry's
I think Steph Curry's got this. It's a short list
of great and great culture builder. And I think Kauhi
is just great. And we saw it with Anthony Davis.
He was great. You don't build your culture around him.

(10:02):
He's not physically reliable. Kawhi is not sometimes verbally reliable,
he's not physically reliable. So it's interesting to watch the
Clippers yesterday and so far this year, they're kind of
melting down at the end of games. I think they
brought him in thinking, okay, great player. And by the way,
Jerry West, who had to say in this, most of
the guys Jerry West brought in magic was a great

(10:24):
player and a great culture builder, you know. I mean
Shack and Kobe are both guys. They're very communicative, great players.
You could build a culture with them. Pauga Saul's another guy, verbal,
self aware. So Jerry West dealt with a lot of
guys that were good at that. Lebron James very much
like that, by the way, he was in Golden State,
Steph Curry, Kevin Durant very much like that. Kawhi's not

(10:48):
He's a mercenary and those guys are great too, but
don't expect them to build this alliance in the locker room,
simply not who Kawhi is. Be sure to live editions
of The Herd weekdays in newon Easter nine am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

(11:08):
Hey what's up everybody? It's me three time pro bowler Lebarrington,
and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new
podcast called Up on Game? What is up on Game?
You asked, along with my fellow pro Bowler, t J. Hushmansata,
and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico Burrs. You
can only name a show with that type of talent

(11:29):
on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing
our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to
Up on Game with me LeVar Arrington, t J. Hushman Zatta,
and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcast from. So, Michael Irvin's a broadcaster,

(11:51):
former Cowboy great. He was talking the other day, probably
on the NFL network. In his quote was the NFL
quarterbacks and players now, how now have the power to move?
That's something that's been furnished to other sports, he says.
But it also means they have to power to leave
a team and to come to a team. And Russell
Wilson wants Dak Prescott's chair. So I have a theory

(12:12):
on this, and is that when Tom Brady married Giselle
Bunch and a supermodel whose net worth is higher than Tom,
she makes more than Tom. When you go home at night,
what do you talk to your wife about? You talk
to your wife about kids. That's a big part of it.
And you talk to your wife about your businesses if
you're both professionals. Tom Brady is different since he married Giselle,

(12:36):
his brand TB twelve is bigger. He got much savvier
with his business. He did more commercials. He was more
from the gyms to his branding. He got a TB
twelve into Whole Foods in the Northeast. He's different. He's
a little more global. That's his sounding board, that's his
number one ally. And she's, by the way, got you know,

(12:59):
a litany of professionals she works with. So she's got
her professionals and the marketing people in her life. And
now Tom goes home every night and listens to Giselle
say this is what I'm hearing, and it does change you.
And now cr Russell Wilson's wife is not as a
terms of a brand, is not Giselle Bunchen. But she's

(13:19):
an entertainer. And I don't think it wasn't lost on
me last week when the four teams Russell Wilson name
were all like entertainment cities Vegas, New Orleans, you know,
a Chicago and the Dallas Cowboys. You don't think of
Dallas's entertainment, But the Cowboys are entertainment, and I don't
think you know. A couple of years ago, Russell Wilson,

(13:40):
there was a rumor out there about trading Russell Wilson
and he was unhappy. What a shock it was, New York.
And I just want you to think about this. Think
about Dak Prescott. It's about somewhere between the eighth and
twelfth best quarterback in the NFL. You can put him
wherever you want, but that's reasonable. Dak Prescott two years

(14:00):
ago had made fifty million dollars in endorsements, Pepsi City
Group seven to eleven, New era cap sleep number, Campbell's soup,
Russell Wilson had bows. So Russell Wilson goes home in
Seattle and sits in his house and watches it rain,
and Dak Prescott goes to his house in Dallas and

(14:21):
watches it rain. Money and indorsements. Dak Prescott's like the
tenth twelve past quarterback in the NFL, maybe slightly better.
Fifty million indorsements as an NFL player two years ago.
I heard that number this morning. I was like, what
I mean, What's Patrick Mahomes gonna make? What Darren Rodgers
make So when I look at these, do I absolutely

(14:44):
think Russell Wilson, who is very aspirational, do I think
he sits and thinks about that, oh all the time.
There's stories like two weeks ago or a week ago
in the athletic where he went to the Super Bowl
and he was just seething watching Brady. So when you
not everybody is like this, Some people they go play football.
Nick Foles just wants to play football. He almost quit twice.

(15:05):
That's okay, I'm wrong with that. Russell Wilson sees himself
as an all time great. And when you see yourself
as an all time great and you're buried up in
the Pacific Northwest where it's techie and coffee and rainy
and not really an endorsement mecca, And then you look
at Dak Prescott and I can guarantee you he and
his agent, Mark Rogers know he's making fifty million set

(15:25):
by this time it could be a one hundred million dollars.
And if Dak is the same price as Russell Wilson,
Russell Wilson's also aware of that. So there's no doubt
in my mind Russell Wilson and Ciarra would not lose
any sleep. Sleep number if you're talking, that would not
lose any sleep switching teams with Dack or going to

(15:48):
the Cowboys. And by the way, the Cowboys, what do
they keep showing Russell Wilson and outsiders. We like Dak.
They like him. That no contract. So that's that's the
image the Cowboys sent out to all of us, including
Russell Wilson. We liked Dak. So I people said this

(16:10):
wouldn't happen. I don't know. Jerry Jones a deal maker.
Pete Carroll, by the way, runs the Seahawks. Now he's
a deal maker. He gave up two first round picks
to get Jamal Adams. He may want those first round
picks back. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine am Pacific. What do
we have here? Whoa JJ Watt signing with the Arizona

(16:36):
Cardinals two years, thirty one million That came out of
nowhere per jj wats Twitter. Now, now let's not get
fooled on this is this JJ watch Twitter. So he
got fifteen and a half million a year. He wanted
the money. So for JJ Watt, money was a thing.

(16:59):
So Andre Hopkins recruited him hard. Hey, listen, man, Arizona's
got Chandler Jones. It's a division with Matt Stafford, Russell Wilson,
Jimmy Garoppolo. You need pass rushers. That's exciting. J J.
Watt goes to the Arizona Cardinals. How about that, boy,

(17:19):
That division is just nothing but trouble. God, that division
you could do an NFC West Pro Bowl team and
take on the rest of the league. Seriously, that that
division is stacked. Look at all the pass rushers in
that division. Chandler Jones, J J. Watt, Nagat, Carlos Dunlap,

(17:40):
Aaron Donald Bosa, just the pass rushers in that division.
They had the Forest Buckner a year ago. So JJ
Watt is a member of the Arizona Cardinals. So DeAndre
Hopkins went after him. Well, he had us all fooled
that there was an This morning, there was an instagram,
but it was a false instagram that said he had

(18:01):
narrowed his choices down and we discovered that was a
bunch of nonsense. It was someone said it was his
peloton accounts. What does that mean? A pelotons a bike?
But right, it was his account. How would that be?
How would I know? How would we know? Publicly? What
does Peloton account? I mean it said like people thought
it was his account. He said he doesn't own a bike.

(18:22):
I'm looking at his Twitter he said, I don't own
a bike stop, which is how that that? Well, let's work.
I'm thrown out. I got no problem. He's going after
some money. I got no problem. Fifteen to nine, he's
the only NFL guy on defensive Tell me the top
defensive brand guys in the NFL. So there's JJ Watt,
Aaron Donald, Yeah, I guess. I mean he's just great.
Does he have a Brand's so? I mean he's like

(18:43):
the first person you think of when you think of it.
He's the best defensive player. He could be argued as
the best player in the league. I would say the
bosses have something. Is it a brand? It's something? So
J J. Watts number one, Aaron Donald Sherman, Yeah, kind of.
I guess. Does he have a lot of endorsements? It's
probably got some. Yeah, I mean he's a really big name.

(19:06):
There's just not a lot of I mean, listen, I
can't look at JJ Watton say, dude, this isn't nearly
as good as the other teams because he has a
right to make money. And by the way, I mean,
if that's if that was, I mean, none of those
teams that we were talking about earlier, Buffalo Green Bay
like that's you know, they're better than the Arizona Cardinals.

(19:27):
And you know what's happening in this division. You got
to keep up. I mean, so Steve Kin, the GM
of Arizona's like Jamal Adams and Dunlap go to the Seahawks. No,
I think it's great for the Cardinals. I mean, it's
like recruiting in the SEC. You got to keep up.
If you don't have a top twelve class, you can't
compete in the SEC. You have to get great high
school football player. That's why Lane Kiffin was going to

(19:48):
get a job because he can recruit and eventually, if
you can't recruit at an elite level, you just can't
compete in the SEC. In this division, you have to
get star players. You have to get You're facing Russell
Wilson twice A and now Stafford. The Stafford move, Arizona
probably looks at Stafford and thinks, okay, we got three
winning quarterbacks. Potentially we got to go get J J.

(20:09):
Watt one more. Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours
a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app.
Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like.
All Right, here we go, Colin right, Colin wrong on
Monday where Colin was right. Russell Wilson's been unhappy last
couple of years, finally going public. I've said this, Pete
Carroll's a great coach, Let's stop the worship, let's hold

(20:31):
him accountable. Apparently this weekend Russell Wilson made it clear
he doesn't love Pete Carroll having his sons on the staff,
which has been a trend that, frankly I'm a little
concerned with. There's a lot of good coaches out there
for for not kids getting the jobs. But whatever this,
I've said this before, Russell hasn't been happy. Now he's
going public. I do think Pete, since Paul Allen died,

(20:53):
has nobody holding him accountable. And according to Albert Brewer,
they may move Russell Wilson where Colin is raw Brooklyn
Nets had an eight game winning streak snapped. But I
gotta be honest, they're not only good, they're good quickly.
They're number one in points, they're number one in offensive rating,
they're first in field goals. It's all worked very quickly.
Durant's leadership helps. Listen, Kyrie and James Harden at this

(21:16):
point are getting along and it's working. It feels like
a tinderbox to me. But listen, you look at the
East right now. No way Boston can match up offensively.
They just put too much pressure on a defense. And
so it's working quickly, good enough to often miss one
of their stars and still win. Where Colin was right? Well,

(21:39):
Zion Williamson, where all the critics now? Fourth youngest All
Star ever? What about his defense? What about it? Young
guys are never great at defense. Charles Barkley had a
great career, wasn't a great defensive player. In February he
averaged twenty seven points in sixty five percent field goal percentage.
That feels pretty effective to me. He's been better statistically

(21:59):
every month. I've loved this kid at Duke. I think
he's got a real self awareness. I think he's explosive.
I think he's Charles Barkley but stronger. I think he's
Carl Malone but more dynamic. And I think he has
the potential for a better jump shot than Blake Griffin
where Colin was raw. The Steelers apparently have caved on
Big Ben. It's pretty obvious the GM doesn't want him,

(22:21):
but the Rooneyes want to miss the playoffs again or
get there and lose. He has not won a playoff
game over a Pro Bowl quarterback in a long time.
Thirteen years down the stretch, he was a wreck one
in four twelve touchdowns, eight picks. I think he is
aged poorly because he's never been physically committed. Frankly, I'm
not sure he's always been mentally committed to the sport.

(22:43):
He's just damned talented. But the Rooneyes caved and they're
going to bring him back where Colin was right set it.
For years, every golfer owes a debt of gratitude to
Tiger Woods, and they all wore yesterday, a fitting tribute
to somebody that changed their lives. Woods had the unique
ability to humiliate you on Sunday and double your paycheck

(23:05):
on Monday. He literally entered the sport. Nobody made a
million dollars. Nine years later, forty five million golfers made
a million annually. I love this. I'm a sucker for
some stuff like this, and Rory McElroy even wore read.
Of course, Tiger looked a little more ripped than some
of the golfers, but nonetheless I thought it was a
wonderful tribute where Colin was raw. I think I liked

(23:29):
Teddy Bridgewater more than NFL people. I always thought he
and Alex Smith are the best bridge quarterbacks in the league.
They can, they can win games, they can get into
the playoffs. Apparently Matt Rule, the head coach and Caroline
has done after one year now. He did not play
particularly well. There were four and eleven. He was as
a starter, he had his fifteen TDS eleven picks. Like
Alex Smith, He's not going to carry a team. But

(23:50):
he's Matury Smarty, learns a playbook. But they're moving off him.
So the reports are either in free agency or the draft.
Carolina is going to get a quarterback. Where was right? Mark?
Excuse me? John Lynch announced last week finally Jimmy Garoppolo's
our quarterback. We got to hold on here. Jimmy Garoppolo

(24:11):
won in high school, he won in college. He's won
seventy five percent of his games, in the NFL. Yes,
he gets hurt. It's a problem. I would draft a quarterback.
I get it. I would draft a quarterback with my
twelfth pick of one's available. But this idea, you're just
going to scoot him out of town and replace him
with the reckless Marcus Mariota, the reckless Sam Darnold, the

(24:32):
guy wins. Never forget Belichick loved him, Kyle Shanahan traded
for him, and he win seventy five percent of his games.
He's good. Let's stop arguing where Colin was wrong. I've
never been a big fan of retread NBA coaches. Tom
Thibodeau got hired by the Knicks. I thought brothren, but
if they've won seven to nine this morning, they would

(24:53):
host a playoff series. Now, Julius Randalls had a good year.
He's a nice player, but it's it's Derrick Ross played okay,
but it's it's a roster a kid and see players.
But now now I will say this, Stiboto will just
play all as best players forty minutes. They'll probably that
it's out in about three weeks. But they're planning well.
And I've you know, I've always said the NBA is
better when the New York Knicks are good. It's fun.

(25:16):
Madison Square Garden got it's got its own vibe, it's
got its own juice, it's got its own energy, and
I love seeing the Knicks be relevant where Colin was right.
I'm the biggest Utah Jazz fan in America that doesn't
live in Utah. They are twenty three and three. They
destroyed the Lakers last week, and Quinn Snyder, their coach,
who was the best high school basketball player in the

(25:36):
state I grew up with when I was in high school,
has never really gotten kind of the respect. Maybe it's
because Utah's a small market. He's He's got a lot
of Brad Stevens. The difference is he's good at coaching stars.
I mean, Donovan Mitchell's a star. This is a really
good team. Their big problem is do they have a
wing defender that can give Lebron at least trouble? And

(26:00):
I don't know if they do. But this is a
really good basketball team with a star center, a great
rim protector Joe Ingles. They got four guys I think
in the top one hundred shooting threes. Donovan Mitchell can
play both ends. I love him where Colin was right. Finally,
I said, when Steve sark Kejian took the Texas Longhorns job,

(26:20):
I said, three weeks later, you're gonna see this guy
is gonna get rolling fast. They are already number four
nationally in recruiting. He just landed a five star quarterback
out of Los Angeles, a top safety out of Texas,
and in a month he has already made substantial in

(26:40):
roads to in state recruiting. And that is where Tom
Herman struggled. Herman won games, he had lost some of
the high school coaches in Texas and they run that program.
Sark is a guy that made a mistake in his
life and on Twitter that means your life is over,
But in real life it doesn't. People make mistakes all

(27:01):
the time. We have to as a society understand there
are due overs, you get mulligans. Are you a good person?
Steve Sarkeesian, who I've known for a long time, good guy,
made a mistake, really really smart. And I've said it before.
I don't know why this is, but it is. I've
always had a soft spot. Maybe it's the uniforms, maybe

(27:23):
it's because I love Austin, Texas. But I've always had
a soft spot for Texas Longhorns football. College football needs
USC the Miami Hurricanes in Texas to be good college
football has I like a little glamor with my sports
Miami Hurricanes. I miss you USC, Texas. I mission be
sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in

(27:44):
noon Easter nine a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio App. Hey, what's up everybody? It's
me three time Pro Bowl of Le Warrington, and I
couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called
Up on Game? What is Up on Game? You add
along with my fellow Pro bowler t J. Hushman's otta

(28:05):
and Super Bowl champion Yep, that's right, Plexico burrds. You
can only name a show with that type of talent
on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing
our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to
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and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or

(28:27):
wherever you get your podcast from. Well. For the last
twenty twenty one years, he's been the majority owner of
the Dallas Mavericks. He's an investor, an entrepreneur. You know,
you see him on the Shark Tank. I would say
of all the owners in professional sports, he feels the
most like us. Not just the jeans and the T shirt,

(28:49):
but he's outspoken. He yells at referees. He is us
as an owner. And I get the great pleasure of
interviewing Mark a handful of times every couple of years.
And he has now joined where Mark has invested. He
told me last week in a peloton, So this is
the new slip. Have you already done your peloton ride
this morning? No, not yet today. I'm on the road,

(29:12):
so no peloton today, NBA protocol. I'm telling you it
at my house. Okay. So I want to talk about Luca.
So I first heard about Luca and I had I
have a skeptical He was a European player. He was
very young, and I'm like, you know, I saw the video.
He doesn't look like a great athlete. I mean, I'm
sure he'll score. He's highly skilled. And then all of
a sudden, about fifteen games into his career, Lebron's tweeting

(29:33):
him like we got ourselves a star. When did you
know Mark, because Dirk took a while to be great.
When did you know in your staff we have an
all time great potential player. Probably about five games in
when everybody who started playing with them loved playing with him,

(29:57):
and he was doing things that you never a met.
Imagine the nineteen year old kid to do that was
just like off the charts that you know, it was
hard to believe that, you know, a ten year veteran
could do those things, and Luca was doing them as
a rookie. Like everybody has said, you can't speed him up.
He plays at his own pace. He's got he thinks
three steps ahead of everybody. He knows where everybody is

(30:19):
on the court. You know, he's just got the ability
and plus, I think you know what was uncertain about
him being a superstar was how well he would improve
during the offseason, And he's gotten better every single year.
You can just list off the things that he's done
to improve his game, and to me, that's the true
measure of a superstar. What can you add to your game? Yeah,

(30:40):
well exactly. I mean even Lebron has tweaked his game
seemingly every couple years. You know, I could make the
argument you know, Dirk's someone's gonna argue the greatest international
player ever. You may have the next great international player.
So take my audience, because you know you're you're a
business guy, you're a global thinker. What did you learn
earn with Dirk that you can now practically use with

(31:05):
Luca in marketing, in development, in relationships all in. I
think it wasn't so much that we learned in terms
of business. It was more we learned in terms of personality.
You know, Dirk has a heart of gold. He was
He's the first to go to a hospital without the
team asking, and you know, and uncle Dirk is showing

(31:25):
up in Santa's outfits, you know, and being there with
kids and not telling anybody until the kids post something
on Instagram. And lucas a lot the same way. When
you know, we learned that with great athletes who are
really great in the community, that have great hearts, you
just got to enable them and let them go and
let them be themselves. Don't try to say, Okay, this
is what we need you to do for the team.

(31:47):
Just let them do what they do for the community
and for people in need. And to me that that's everything.
And you saw that with Dirk, and I think Luca
saw that with Dirk when they were together Dirk's last year,
that was important and it became important to Luca Mark
Cuban joining us Mark. I've said this before, it's it's
a mystery in sports. I don't get is that. I've

(32:09):
said if I was an NBA free agent, I could
literally go to Dallas. The arena's next to a Ritz Carlton.
I could live there, no state tax I have a
marketing genius as an owner. It's a really nice city
for a young man. It's beautiful, people, fun, lots to do,
you know, great airports everywhere. And yet you've finished second

(32:30):
sometimes in free agent pursuits, and I think to myself,
you're the kind of guy that that's gonna you're gonna get.
That's gonna get in your head. You're gonna think about that.
I've argued, is it because it's a scene as a
football market or the Cuban's the star? Like, I don't
get it. Are are you worried about that as you
try to land a great player with Luca going forward? No,

(32:51):
not at all. I mean people talk about that, but
they failed to realize that we didn't have cap room
for you know, the first fifteen years that I owned
the team, and so yeah, we haven't gotten you know,
maybe you know the superstar, superstar leaving their team, you know,
to come play with somebody with us. But we've only
really had cap year cap room four or five years,
and so it's not something I'm worried about. I mean,

(33:14):
who's not gonna want to play with with Luca, he
makes everybody on the court better and he's got the
personality that just makes playing the game of joy. So
it's not something I'm worried about at all. You know, Um,
I've said this before. When you when you're on Shark
Tank and everybody watch a Shark tank, those are usually
what they call B two C businesses. Those are businesses

(33:34):
selling to consumers. Now there's there's B to B business
to business, which I'm sure you've got a bunch of
those two. But with a business to consumer business, optics matter,
Esthetics matter, what it looks like matter, Right, what's the
emotion it sends to me? So when I look at
the NBA right now, one of the reasons I'm fascinated
with Zion is sort of the conflict, the aggressiveness at

(33:57):
the rim and dunking. Do you read it all with
the NBA that the three point shots become so easy?
I mean, I'm looking at Lucas numbers that it's now
you come down in a fast break, mark, pull up
and hit a three. That the aesthetically the game is
just all jump shots. Do you think about that? Does
it concern you? Yeah? I think about it a lot

(34:17):
um It hasn't got to the point where it concerns
me yet because what's changed is we used to have
the big beast, right, you had somebody that was stronger,
bigger like Shack and even the Hakims and the David
Robinson's were just beastly right, they could overpower you. But
now in the pick and roll world, you've got guys

(34:38):
who can really jump, who are really tall, but aren't
really beat down and you know, beat you up in
the paint type guys because you've got to be able
to guard some on the perimeter, and so you don't
see the big beast down by the paint by the
basket just dunking on people except for maybe Bobon sometimes
and so yeah, it's sometimes I wish that we had

(34:59):
the battles of the bigs down there where they're just
banging on each other. But you know the other side
of the coin is you look to what kids are
doing with their game, and everybody's learning to shoot threes.
I mean, if you can shoot it, why wouldn't you.
I Mean, there's what it used to be that someone
shooting forty percent in the NBA was a marksman, right,
that was just like the sign of an amazing elite shooter.

(35:21):
And now there's you know, people right around fifty percent.
They're shooting not just from the three point line like
we used to, but five, ten, fifteen feet behind it
and making them at thirty five percent clips. So you
really got to give credit to you know, player development
and kids coming into the game and learning how to shoot. Yeah,
when um, you know, I've heard football coaches say this,

(35:43):
if you play in a division with like Tom Brady,
then when you draft, you draft players that can get
to Tom Brady. He affects how you draft. When Lebron
came West, did all you guys with the Mavericks sitting
down and go, Okay, we may have to get somebody
who can guard Lebron? Does he affects how you think
going forward in the West, not so much right now.

(36:04):
I mean, we used to do that when the MAVs
and the Spurs were at the top of the Western Conference.
Then you'd say, Okay, how are we going to guard
Tim Duncan, How are we going to deal because they
had so many players that were that good. But now
you know, the West is just so good and teams
have so many great players. You can't just pinpoint against
one and say, Okay, you know, let's just worry about
defending him because you know, there's so much space on

(36:26):
the court and there's so much skill. Like we're just
talking about that, it's not ever just about one guy anymore.
It's about the whole team. And as a matter of fact,
you see that now when you have just one superstar
and maybe not as as much talent, or somebody got hurt,
they're not nearly as effective because it takes more than
one great player to have a great team in the
Western Conference. So listen, you talk about a lot of

(36:48):
big issues. Here's a non sports issue. I see Johnson
and Johnson just came out with a vaccine. It's a
single shot, and I look at the vaccine and I
watch your NBA games and there's not fans there. You
have to be an optimist to be a billionaire. My
theory on this is business is so hard you can't
you can't get to where you're at as a cynic.

(37:09):
You have to believe there's a solution of stuff. That's
just my theory on it. Do you see a light
at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic we're
in as a sports owner, like in your mind this morning,
how do you feel about where we're going on that? Oh? Yeah,
absolutely positive? And you're right, you get you have to
see solutions an opportunity. But I look at the Johnson
and Johnson to come out and people say, well, it's

(37:29):
only seventy three percent efficacy and it's one shot, and
I'm like, that's perfect for kids. You know, start with
high school kids that you know, my seventeen year old
daughter thinks she's invincible and her peers, and you know
middle school kids, and you know, let's get them the
Johnson and Johnson's shop because it's easy just to get
them one. They're less susceptible in many respects than older

(37:49):
Americans are, and that that takes care of a lot
of carrier. So with that mind, you know, I literally
had a conversation with our folks, was sent to our CEO,
and it was like, Okay, let's get to forty five,
you know, in the next couple of weeks, and then
you know, we're playing in April in May. It wouldn't
be inconceivable if vaccines are readily available and we have

(38:12):
more vaccines than people wanting them to open the arena
back to you know, ten thousand and fifteen thousand or more.
By the way, you have to have great discipline to
be where you're at in life. Yet I still see
you occasionally chirp at referees. Isn't there a little voice
in your head that goes, Mark, you're on camera, just
don't say anything to that referee he butchered a call.
Do you ever have that self, that governor in yourself

(38:34):
where you're like, oh god, I'm just I'm yelling. This
is gonna be on uh you know sports gender, Yeah,
I do. But you know everybody's got something right. You know,
you've been around me and talk to me and other
you know, other than those two hours during an NBA
in a MAVs game, not even someone else again, just
a mass game. Those two hours that's who I am, right,
that's where That's where I let out all my stress

(38:56):
and I'm screaming and I'm yelling. In the other twenty
two hours of the day, you know, I'm just calm,
cool and collected. It's just everybody's got something that they
use as a stress release, and that's mine. Mark. Absolute
pleasure seeing you. Mark Cuban, a shark tank Maverick's majority owner.
I love talking to you, buddy. Thank you, and he
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