Hour 1: How Loud was the Lakers Loss to the Suns?

From 30 for 30 podcasts. Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing what's about. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. They're placing the arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. With seven, Allen working on Luca, Allen all the way, kick, corner, O'Neal, got it! An open three on the way, he got it! Royce O'Neal from downtown, with nine ticks of a second left on the clock, and the Suns take a three-point lead! Alright, here we go, trying to tie it, Marcus Sparks, cross court, oh, Reeves has a great look! Oh, he can't knock it down! Reeves open for three and he missed it. Suns win. 113 to 110. The final score tonight. What a victory this was tonight. The Lakers are going to keep leading the show, yet they're going to keep losing. I don't know what's going on. Hi, everyone. Welcome to First Take. It is Friday. We made it. I'm Shea Cornett. With us today, Stephen A. Smith, Kendrick Perkins, and Brian Windhorst. Good morning, everyone. How are we doing? Good morning, everybody. Hey, Shea. Shea. Shea. Hold on. Hold on for a second. Yes. I know. I know. I know. I don't see my little big bro over there without a towel. And look, this is bigger than just the standard for first take. We're talking about a guy where it's been rumors circulating that he could possibly be a candidate in the next election for the president of the United States. He started the rumors. I mean, what are we doing right now? We're trying to convince the people that you're a legit candidate. Where's your tie? Well, first of all, first of all, I spilled some tea on my tie right before the show. So I had to take it off. And that's the reason why, number one. You need to spell one. I understand the elements of the importance of style. I am diverse. You understand what I'm saying? There are a multitude of styles that I can rock. That's number two. And number three, Wendy, that is completely and utterly not true. I did not start those rumors. Not at all. Do your homework on that, Mr. Insider. I did not start those rumors. Not at all. But at the end of the day, the people are speaking, and that's what you see. Now let's move on. All right. Let me move along. I did notice the casual Friday before we came on air, too. He told me it was an accidental casual Friday. But nonetheless. He's spilling tea, Shea. He's spilling tea. That's right. You know, he's not in L.A., but maybe he's doing that casual. He's spilling tea. He's going to spill tea for the next two hours. Let's go to the Lakers. Another good look, though, cost the Lakers the game last night. Austin Reeves missed that open three at the buzzer, giving the Suns the 113-110 W. The Reeves' attempt came on the heels of Royce O'Neal knocking down a three with under one second on the clock. The Lakers did try to battle back from down double digits in the fourth, but behind Grayson Allen's 29 points, the Suns, who were not at full strength last night, found a way to win. Here's J.J. Redick after the loss. I would say this. We talk about this as a staff. Like our losses are louder than other teams because we're the Lakers and because of the way we lose. You know, you get this deep in the season. And again, tonight was a one possession clutch game, which, you know, now we've lost a few of those. But we've been great for the most part in the clutch all year. Our losses are louder. I would say so we had some adversity tonight. Did we not respond? Well, still took a note. I don't disagree with J.J. Redick because definitely louder that is true. That is why it's leading our show today. But how loud was this Lakers loss last night, Perk? It was very loud. And look, J.J. got more excuses than a brother going to jail. I don't want to hear that. You got a nice time for you to coach. Get the attention of your locker room. When you have one of the worst defensive teams in the league, that is a reflection on the coach. But let me say this. For the overall picture, Number one, when it comes to LeBron and the Lakers' relationship, that relationship is one foot on the grave and the other on the banana peel. They're just waiting for the season to be over so they can actually end it. Number two, when you look at the Lakers, I'm looking at the bigger picture since they're always talking about the future. Are we sure that Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic can be your two max guys and you can build around those two guys to go win a championship? I don't. No. You know why? Because, yes, we know that they could go and attack and put up big offensive numbers. But do you realize that both of those guys get picked on? The word around the NBA, if you want to beat the Lakers, search out the matchup either with Luka, because he's getting scored on 49% of the time when he's defender, or go find Austin Reese because he gets scored on 48% of the time. The Lakers have a bigger problem than just this season. When you talk about the direction of where your franchise is going, because if you think that Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic could be your two max guys and you could build around them to bring a championship back to L.A., you done lost your damn mind. Wendy? Yeah, you know, so Perk brings up something here. I was watching this last play of this game, not the Reeves shot, the basket the Suns scored, and it was a simple situation. They isolated Luka and attacked him. LeBron knew that Luka was going to get beat, so he comes running over from the corner and tackles Luka like a linebacker, and they get caught in rotation. And I was like, yeah, I'm wondering if Luka should have even been out there for that play perk. And then, oh, boy, they got Austin Reeves out there, and he's lost in rotation too. I'm like, I don't think Luka and Austin should have been out there. They're so weak defensively. So I'm like, well, what could JJ have done? I start looking at his options. They're not there. You know, he could have put Jared Vanderbilt out there. He played six minutes last night. Rui Hachimura was out. This roster is just not right. The only way the calculus on this roster works is if Reeves, LeBron, and Luka are killers on offense. And they just haven't been. And I'm not saying if they didn't play 100 games together they couldn't improve it. But they just haven't been good when they're together. They're duplicate. It's not because they hate each other. It's not because there's something wrong with them. It just doesn't work. The way that they play doesn't work. And look, you look at team last night, the Suns. Stephen A., the last 10 games in the NBA, the Suns were the 30th-ranked offensive team. Dead last because they're missing some of their best offensive players. No Booker last night, for example, okay? They didn't even break 100 points in regulation their last six games. They put up 113 in this game. It's just because the Lakers are not a good defensive team. And if they're not a good defensive team and their three best players are not killing it on offense, They're going to be in close games, and you can't win all of them. So that's just what this is. JJ is right. The losses are loud. This is a team that should make the playoffs, and they'll probably be an early exit. Maybe they'll have something go their way, but that's what this is. Organizationally, they made this clear. This was being built for 26-27, and they were just going to try to make the best of this season, and that's the results you're seeing. Well, there's a couple of things, a few things actually that we have to point out. Number one, when you talk about there's nothing that they could have done because you looked at his options and it's not there, you know, because the Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic are such liabilities. Well, you did say that Vanderbilt was on the bench. That's one body that you could have put out there because we know that's what he's supposed to be there for to provide you some defense. And you needed defense in that particular situation and you didn't get it. That's number one. Number two, when Burt talks about, you know, LeBron's got one foot out the door and another foot on a banana peel. Well, why is that? Because the reality is, is that LeBron James in his 23rd season at age 41 is still better than most of the league. Why isn't he being utilized a bit more effectively? Why is he having a pedestrian performance like he did last night? We got to at least ask ourselves that question. Number three, to answer the question directly as it pertains to what Burt brought up earlier, can the Lakers win or, you know, two max players or whatever. He doesn't think so. Hell to the no. Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic is your two max players. That ain't going to work. You can't have two individuals in your starting lineup that are such flagrant defensive liabilities. There is no way around that. You've got to have something around them. Offensively, they can click, and we get that part. But defensively, there's such a liability that you can't load up all your money on those guys at the expense of trying to build a team. It's just not going to work. It's just not going to work. So we get that out the way now. and then to crystallize and illuminate the issue even more so. Let's look at the Lakers here. What the hell is Grayson Allen doing looking like the second coming of Steph Curry or somebody? The guy comes, got 28 points, okay? Why is your bench getting outscored by 31 points to the Phoenix Suns? 31 to 25. I mean, damn, Los Angeles Lakers. You can't figure something out rather than to get blitzed by that. And if you're the Los Angeles Lakers who are now just one game ahead of the Phoenix Suns for the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoff picture, right, to avoid the play in. You got to look at them and say to yourself, excuse me, you're losing to the Phoenix Suns without Devin Booker and Dylan Brooks? Both of them are out and you still lose to the Phoenix Suns? Listen, that's a problem. We know it's about their primarily about their defense. We know to some degree it's about LeBron, AR, and Luka not necessarily clicking offensively. When two of them are in the lineup together, it's much better than when the three of them are in the lineup together. That's something that J.J. Redick has to figure out. But I'm also going to take a moment to give major, major props to Matt Ishbia, the owner for the Phoenix Suns. Last year I called him out. Y'all remember that. And we've spoken on several occasions since that time. Everything is cool. Everything is all good. I didn't expect the Phoenix Suns to be this much better than they were. once the, you know, Bradley Beal is gone, Kevin Durant is gone. I did not expect the Phoenix Suns to be this much better than they were last year. And to have this same owner talking about, you know, throwing out a million dollars when he showed up on Pat McAfee's show the other day for a dunk contest and other stuff during All-Star Week and incentivize cats to play and all of this other stuff and talked about, you know, how appalled he was at the notion of tanking. he's backing it up with his actions because the Phoenix Suns could have gone the tanking route if you wanted to. They said, hell no. We're going to have a decent team. Hired a new coach, still got Devin Booker there. And lo and behold, they're in the playoff picture. And it's not like there's some under 500 team as a seventh seed. You know, what are they? 10, 11 games over 500. You got to give credit where credit is due. Phoenix is much better than we thought they were going to be. Their owner deserves all the credit in the world for that If I going to call him out when things are horrible I going to give him props where it due He deserves it And I wanted to say on national television he damn sure deserves it So Lakers and the Suns. One rebuttal I'll make there. One rebuttal I'll make there. I agree with you, Stephen. The Suns have done a great job turning around. They can't tank because Ishpia has traded all the picks. So the tanking's off the table. But I will say since day one, he's always been a guy who wouldn't do that. So just wanted to say that. What were you going to say, Perk? Well, look, let me also say this. Yes, the players on the floor get a lot of blame, but we got to start highlighting J.J. Reddick as well because there's too much going on in that Laker from those players for guys like a DeAndre Ayton, who's clearly not happy with his role. Now, I don't agree with him, but I want to ask, why in the hell is J.J. Reddick not maxing out DeAndre Ayton? When I look at a guy like Jalen Dern for the Detroit Pistons, who I watched the other night, Wendy, you and I were covering the game in studio, and I told you I watched that first half where I believe he had almost 20 points. He may have had 20 points, and not one single play was ran for him. He finished the game with 26 points by setting screens and rolling to the basket and playing in the dunking spot and being on the receiving end, catching and finishing why is jj riddick not maxing out his guys why is luka donchish not maxing out on a night-to-night basis think about all the young rising superstars around the league right now kate cutting down he's considered a two-way player jaylen brown he's considered a two-way player anthony elwood's considered a two-way player sga is considered a two-way player Luka Doncic went through all of this this offseason because we never question, is he going to get a bucket? He's one of the greatest offensive players this game has ever seen. But what we always question is, can he get in shape to be able to get down and slide those puppies? And that's the reason that the Dallas Mavericks, or should I say Niko, traded his ass from out of Dallas because he believed that with Luka as your guy As a franchise player, you would not win a championship with him being the franchise guy because he does not have the mentality or real want to get down and play defense. Okay. While that is true, the Lakers have now lost three in a row. In terms of the clutch time, maybe that mentality, J.J. Redick brought it up as well. Lakers 16-5 in clutch time games. That's still the best in the NBA. We stay in the West, though, because Kevin Durant had quite the game yesterday. He dropped 40 points in 40 minutes last night against the Magic. Houston beat Orlando 113-108. Magic led by 19 at one point, but the Rockets erased that in a hurry. Reed Shepard added 20 off the bench to help Durant, who made 14 of 28 shots and finished with eight boards and three dimes. And look at KD, because last night he became the sixth player to score 32,000 career points with his first 40-point performance this season so far. He joined LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan as the only players to reach the 32,000 mark. And he's now just 287 points away from passing MJ and moving into the top five on the all-time scoring list. And so this obviously opens up a bigger question in terms of where you rank Durant's, not just necessarily among the greats I mentioned, but among all the greats in general. What do you think, Stephen A.? I think he's top 10 all the time, me personally. When I think about him, we can try to kneel it down and get specific about who's in, who's out. My question is, is that who are we going to look at and see at seven feet tall with a 7'6 wingspan with those ball handling skills, that shot-making ability from long range, from mid-range, from the free throw line? I mean, the guy is absolutely spectacular. There's no way around it. And then when we look at some of the superlatives out here, Last night, he tied Kobe Bryant for fifth most 30-point games in NBA history with 431. He also reached the 32,000 career points by becoming just the sixth player, obviously, in history that we just highlighted with LeBron and everybody else. 75th anniversary team, two-time champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, a regular season MVP, four scoring titles, tied for third most all-time behind only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain, 16-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year, National College Player of the Year. I mean, my God, you look at this guy and what he has done and what he can still do. Then take into account the fact that essentially, fellas, he missed two seasons because of the Achilles tear. And then he got injured earlier in his career in Oklahoma City. So a legitimate we're talking about a guy that essentially has missed pretty much two and a half to three years of his career due to injury. And still he's top six all time in scoring, which brings us back to what we had said many years ago. Originally, before he had gotten hurt in Oklahoma City, we said he might be the guy that surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all time scoring. you know, scoring league, all-time points total. You know, obviously his injuries derailed that. But that's who he is. And so I look at it from that standpoint. You know, we could talk about the killer instinct or lack thereof. We didn't see that last night, certainly. But his efficiency as a scorer as well. I think you have to look at Kevin Durant, and I think we have to stop messing around and playing games and stop acting like there's definitively 10 dudes in NBA history who could put up buckets the way that this brother could. I don't believe they exist. The greatest scorer of my lifetime was Jordan that I watched. And, you know, his numbers were affected by his retirements. And if Jordan played in this era, he would score a lot more points because of high possessions and the way defenses are. But Jordan, greatest scorer. After Jordan, Durant, in my view, is the greatest scorer of my lifetime. Okay? And I will just say this about Durant's resume. I don't know where he ranks. I don't know if he's 12, 14, 9. I don't know. But two things about Durant's resume. Number one, the 2017 finals. Stephen A. knows that nothing gets my back up on this show. That when people try to denigrate what he did in the 2017 finals, as if he was riding in the back seat. No. They don't win it. Do you know how good that Cavs team was? Do you know that in the 2017 finals, LeBron averaged a 34-point triple-double? Did you just hear what I said? A 34-point triple-double in 2017. Kyrie averaged 30 in that series. Kevin Love averaged 16 and 12. J.R. Smith shot 58 percent from three. It was 4-1 because Durant averaged 35 points, eight rebounds, and shot something like 55 percent. Okay? Second thing, he's the greatest Olympian in the history of basketball. Okay? In the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Americans lose without him. Nobody talks about that Olympics. Everybody just checks it off and says, oh, yeah. No. They go down to Australia in the semifinals without Durant. He was still recovering from the Achilles. He did not have to play for that team. And he's won a bunch of other gold medals. He's the most accomplished Olympian. And he's going to play again. He's going to try to win his fifth gold medal. All-time lead in scoring in Olympic history. And then the fact that he's been incredible in the NBA. So I think Durant's case is pretty simple. I do, too, and I agree with the both of you. But I'm going to take it a step further. he is the greatest scorer to ever play the game of basketball. The greatest scorer. When you talk about a guy that has zero flaws, he's Beyonce on the offensive end. He's flawless. We could go down the list and we could look at all the guys that are in the top five or top ten. When you talk about career points in the NBA, we could point out at each individual that they had some type of flaw. Right? Because when I think about greatest score, not only do I think about what he could do on the offensive end and how he has no holes in his game, but I also look at efficiency. And when you talk about a guy that's Mr. 50, 40, 90, that's Kevin Durant. And I knew he was destined for this because my first time getting to Oklahoma City when I got traded there, I arrived in that skating ring at the time. That was the old practice facility. And I remember Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder in Orlando, they were flying back on the back-to-back, and they got in that night. And usually when you play a back-to-back, the next day is off. I walked up into the practice facility, and no lie, Kevin Durant was on the floor as a youngster with four coaches. Brian Keefe was one of them leading the charge, who's the head coach of the Washington Wizards. and he was getting the ball at half court, working on scoring on three to four people. And I remember right after that, Kevin Gardner texted me and he was like, hey, what's up, big? What's up, big? He said, what's up, big fella? You good? I said, yeah, I'm straight. He said, hey, man, tell me about Youngin over there. He worked hard. I had to call him and have a whole hour conversation about him. Kevin Durant used to land. We used to land in cities, in cities. The night before the game, and he would have a middle school or a high school waiting on him to go in there and work on his craft. So this doesn't surprise me one bit. In my eyes, he is the greatest scorer to ever touch the damn basketball. So Durant now ties Kobe. Go ahead. The only pushback, as great as Kobe was, the scorer that Kevin Durant is, no. I mean, it's definitely Kevin Durant. the only pushback I would give you, Big Perk, and I agree with everything that you've said because that's well known about a lot of it. Some of the details, no. But for the most part, it's well known about Kevin Durant because this is a guy that, I mean, he lives, eats, and breathes basketball. It's all he wants to do is hoop all the time, all day, every day. He's on low manage. He's never cheated the game. He comes out there and he gives you all he's got. The only pushback that I would give you when it comes to the greatest scorer, it's also about that want it in moments. He is a guy that doesn't mind being deferential. And so when people like myself and Wendy might look at somebody like MJ, who I believe like like like like Wendy said, MJ is tops. And then there's Kevin Durant and the argument there. I just believe it's because of that reason. But it is also important to point this out because you bring it up and it's absolutely true. Most career NBA seasons averaging 25 points, 50% shooting from the field, 40% shooting from three-point range. Kevin Durant is the all-time leader in NBA history, including this season, having done it eight times. To put into perspective Dale Ellis did it once Nikola Jokic has done it twice LeBron James has done it twice And Larry Bird has done it three times Kevin Durant has done it eight times The man is that special. And we just got to recognize it. It's just that simple. I was going to say Durant tied Kobe now for the fifth most 30-point games. Special, yes, definitely. He's listed among the greats. He is one of them. Before we go to break really quick, Stephen A., Dan Orlowski is watching the program and posted this funny. Stephen A gets on me for not wearing a tie on first take, but look at him showing up with that one casual question mark. You know, I thought he was busy. I thought he was busy. You know, listen, Dan Orlowski has absolutely positively no business being a part of this conversation. He showed up yesterday with a hockey jersey. Now, I understand Team USA just won gold, both men's and women's, and we get that part. But we all know for him it was just an excuse for him to slide on something other than a college shirt and a tie and a blazer. He's allergic to that kind of stuff. It's like pulling teeth. His wife dresses him. He needs to shut the hell up and mind his business and sit at home and watch First Take. That's what he needs to do. That's right. I don't disagree with that. The hockey sweater was appropriately timed, but maybe not for television. Coming up on First Take, could A.J. Brown be on the move and what team should be going after him the most? Louis Riddick and Peter Schrager will join us from Indianapolis as they are there for the combine. Plus, LGA will return to the floor tonight. Meanwhile, the Spurs are trying to catch up to those Thunder. They've won 11 in a row. So are the Thunder in danger of losing that top seed to San Antonio? We'll discuss it next. First Take is brought to you by Coca-Cola. Drink in the FIFA World Cup 26. There is a difference in tone from the trade deadline when Howie Roseman said to everybody, absolutely off the table, we're not trading A.J. Brown, to here in Indy where it seems like he's almost saying, well, I'll never just say no to listening to offers. You know, A.J. Brown's Twitter handle is always open. Well, Howie Roseman this time of the year is always listening. That's his mantra. Offer me. What do you got? So that was Peter Schrager yesterday on Get Up, and he and Louis Riddick join us now from Indianapolis and the NFL Combine. And so, Peter, getting the skinny, if you will, on A.J. Brown there. Should A.J. Brown want to stay in Philly? We heard all the drama this past year. Should he even want to be there? I'll go to you first. What do you think, Peter? I think he should. I think the Eagles are an incredible team, and he's won a Super Bowl there, and I also think they should want to keep him. The prohibitive issue here is cost. It really is. If they trade him before June 1st, it's going to cost them $40 million in dead cap space. If they trade him after June 1st, it becomes significantly cheaper. Truth of the matter is, though, after talking to several sources the last couple days, the feeling around Philadelphia is this. They interviewed 17 different offensive coordinators. One of the guys got the job. A 32-year-old first-time play caller named Sean Mannion. When Sean Mannion came to the table in Philly and met with the Philly brass, He presented his plans for the offense, and he had developed this entirely long presentation of cut-ups, of how he would use the talent they have on the field in his offense. It included a ton of motion, a ton of play-action passing, and A.J. Brown was a significant part of that presentation. Time heals some wounds. I would think, now that we've had a few weeks removed from the Eagles' unfortunate departure from the playoffs, Cooler heads will prevail. And with a fresh new voice in that room, I would think Sean Mannion and A.J. Brown give him a new chance to start anew and not have the same stuff that was held over from last year, maybe even the year before. Do you agree, Lewis? What do you think? Yeah, you know what? Let's put it this way, okay? So there's obviously things that A.J. Brown wasn't happy with as far as how he was being utilized. There was obviously things that the organization wasn't happy with as far as how the offense was constructed and how it was implemented and how it was utilized on game day. But we sit here and we talk about the Philadelphia Eagles nonstop during the course of the season about just how elementary, predictable, bland, lack of creativity that they showed on the offensive side of the ball. So with that being what we know in the rearview mirror, if I'm A.J. Brown, who also knows this because he was the one who was living it, why would you want to go through anything similar to that going forward? Now, that being said, as Peter just lays out, Sean Mannion represents a fresh new start. So if you're A.J. Brown right now, you're sitting there thinking, hey, look, how am I going to be deployed? How am I going to be utilized? How diverse is this offense going to be? How detailed is this passing game going to be? How diverse is it going to be? How is it going to really put me in the best situations to really accentuate all the things that I bring to the table? Because clearly he feels as though that that wasn't happening. I guess the proof will be once you get to OTA's mini camp and then in the training camp, if we get that far with him still being on the football team, that's where the proof will come. That's where we'll see whether or not this team has turned a corner. Because right now there's a lot more questions than there are answers. Look, I'm not the one. Peter's not the one. None of us who talk about the situations are the ones who were sitting on the sideline, on the sideline reading books, talking about how we weren't being utilized. We didn't create that narrative. We're witnessing it and watching it and then commenting on it. So, look, obviously it's real. So let's just see what they have in store for it going forward. 78 catches, 1,003 yards, seven touchdowns last season, giving him four straight 1,000-yard seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles since he arrived there. And he produced two seasons of 1,400-plus yards, which stands as the two highest in franchise history. So there's a level of production there with A.J. Brown that we can't argue. But it's because of that production that there's so much trepidation surrounding him, fellas. And I don't think this is a place that he wants to be. Let me be very, very clear about what I'm about to say. with both Peter and Lewis on the screen, me looking right at y'all. I don't believe that A.J. Brown believes in Jalen Hurts. I don't believe he believes in Nick Sirianni. And I'm not saying that he doesn't think they can play quarterback, that he doesn't think they can coach. I'm talking about for his selfish motives, and I don't say selfish in a negative way in this regard, him being a receiver, knowing what he's capable of doing. I don't believe he trusts either party to highlight him in the way he wants to be highlighted so you can get max production from him. I don't believe he believes the Philadelphia Eagles under head coach Nick Sirianni are those dudes. And this season, this upcoming season, assuming he stays an Eagle, will be his fifth offensive coordinator since he's arrived. Now, he can sit up there and go on Micah Parsons' podcast during Super Bowl week and talk about how he's excited about the coaching changes and what have you. How can you be? Think about this. Brian Johnson was let go after one year, okay? Kevin Petullo was let go after one year. Now, Stichan and Moore, they weren't let go. They produced in a very, very big way for you before leaving to get head coaching jobs, but they had some experience. So when you bring in a guy that's first-time coordinator and you failed on that once, you failed on that twice, and then you're going to try it a third time, you don't think A.J. Brown notices? If y'all notice, if I notice, you damn sure know that he notices. And then you look at an offense. You went from eighth to 24th. You went from seventh to 19th in scoring offense. You went from 10th to 24th in third-down conversions. And you basically led the league in your percentage of three-and-out drives and was 21st in points per drive. All of these things are things that A.J. Brown is paying attention to because he's saying, I know I'm a stud. You're paying me like I'm a stud. You think I'm going to sit around and let you dilute my potency and my marketability and my cachet going through another season like we just went through? I don't believe for one second he wants to stay. I just think he knows it'll be very, very difficult for them to unload him, and he's a realist. So he was petulant in his own way just to let him know, listen, if you can, get me the hell up out of here because I don't think this is the place for me. I think that's what's going on. And if he ends up staying in Philadelphia, it's because it's in their best interest to keep him. And they're making business decisions that he has to capitulate to. Simple. OK, well, all of the stats kind of lean that way. He did have his lowest everything in statistical on the offensive side last year with the Philadelphia Eagles. But we're going to leave this here for right now because we have some breaking news about another NFC East wide receiver. This is from our Todd Archer. The Dallas Cowboys will place the franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens today to secure his rights at least through 2026, according to sources. So we knew this could be a possibility. Obviously, Stephen Jones told us last week this is what they were leaning towards. And now it becomes official that the Cowboys will franchise tag George Pickens for this upcoming year. Peter, what is your reaction? That this is expected, but also get ready, buckle up, because George Pickens is the next Cowboy in line that we've seen off-season drama over the last couple years. It started with Dak a couple times, never drama with Dak, but, you know, it dragged on. Then it was obviously Ezekiel Elliott, C.D. Lamb, and last year Micah Parsons, which ended a different way than the others when he actually was traded away. George Pickens, no player wants to necessarily be franchise tag. George Pickens' agency also represents Micah Parsons. will make a very interesting conversation with the Dallas Cowboys franchise. But this could drag on quite a bit, and we could be talking about whether George Pickens is at OTAs, whether he is at training camp, and then the question of, okay, how is this going to be settled? Do they eventually have to capitulate and give him that big deal? Truth of the matter is, George Pickens did everything he possibly could have done last year in a show-me year and still didn't get that big deal from the Cowboys. I'm very curious to see if and when George Pickens does show up to Cowboys camp. Yeah, look, you know, teams always know a lot about what it is that would make them hesitant to go ahead and commit long-term money, long-term guaranteed money to a player than we know. There's always things behind the scenes that either will make them say, hey, you know what? We are willing to go ahead and extend and sign a player to a long-term deal. Or, you know what, we want to hedge our bets and maybe just put the franchise tag on them, although that's cost prohibitive too. I mean, we're talking about carrying a one-year tag at $29 million. You think Dallas really wants to do that? Of course they don't want to do that considering all the other things that they need to get done. You think they want to continue to just restructure contracts, try and manufacture ways to get under the salary cap, and then just kind of like pay as you go year by year? Of course they don't want to do that. They'd love for this to be cut and dried. But look there a lot of different things at play here One George has an argument for wanting to be paid like a number one wide receiver He earned that this year Dallas knows that Of course they know that But they already are paying a guy $33-plus million per year. It probably just doesn't make a – it's not something that really is kind of wise team building. But they also don't want to let him go. Number two, look, contracts are about – there's a certain amount of risk that you assume once you don't have the carrot dangling in front of a player any longer and they have secured long-term financial stability. And with George, you think that for a sec, you think Dallas isn't considering that right now, considering what his past was in Pittsburgh? Of course they are. This isn't easy at all. And as Peter has alluded to, as Adam has said, Schefter has said, as Mike Tannenbaum has said, this is going to be a long process, a very long process, because there are a lot of concerns on both sides here that need to really be kind of smoothed out. before we arrive at long-term, long-term future fair value. There just is. It's going to be a huge mistake. It's a huge mistake. And here's why. Because it's inviting more drama. It's ensuring that the Dallas Cowboys are going to do what they do better than anybody in the National Football League. Win in terms of quantity of headlines, but not necessarily on the football field. It's going to be – listen, we saw a couple of games last year where, listen, I got mad love for George Pickens, the brother's a stud. He's got a great agent in Moologeta. We all know this, somebody that Jerry didn't want to negotiate it because that's the same guy that represents Michael Parsons. We get all of that, okay? But here's the reality that's inescapable. In the end, we saw George Pickens on the field on at least a couple occasions where his effort was being questioned. We heard about his petulance in Pittsburgh. I'm not telling you that's a reason he doesn't deserve his money. I'm making the case for, you know, that because that's the situation, he's going to be out there making business decisions. And we know what I mean by that. You know, when you're going across that middle, when you're putting your body on the line, when you're endangering yourself, how anxious are you going to be to do that when you're trying to position yourself to get a long-term back. Peter, Lewis, we know I'm not making this up. We know this comes with the game. When you franchise a guy, you're basically saying, okay, here's your money for the year. But there's a boatload of money out there to get for the next three, four, five years. And you're not giving this individual access to that, particularly after a year like this. He's like, okay, I went out there, I balled out, I went all out. I produced for this team. Wasn't my fault we lost. Wasn't C.D. Lance's fault we lost. Wasn't Dak Prescott's fault we lost. It was really the fact that we didn't have a defense. Okay? So we did our job. And now I got to suffer. I got to suffer because of the decisions that they want to make. And you're just going to ignore this all-out year that I had with 93 receptions, 429 yards. And I had 73 first downs. I had nine touchdowns. You're not going to pay me now? If you're not going to pay me now, when are you going to pay me? You'll never pay me because I ain't Dak Prescott. I ain't the quarterback. I'm a wide receiver. I'm an expendable piece. So guess what? I got to make sure I position myself where I go someplace where I'm not deemed as expendable. That's what he's going to be out on the field doing at increments. We all know it's going to happen because that's what happens when you shortchange a dude financially on the football field. They make business decisions for their own future. That is what happens. It's a huge mistake by the Dallas Cowboys, but it's indicative of who they are and how they do business. They will certainly win headlines, and they will garner more headlines because we're going to be wondering about the stuff that I just said. And as a result, every newspaper around, every television network around is going to be talking about them, and that's where they will win. But it won't be on the football field because business decisions are going to be made. That's why Schrager started this segment by buckle up, but I think that's probably why it's going to feel like that. They have a long-term deal. If they're going to come to a long-term deal, they have until July 15th to do that. Otherwise, George Pickens will play on the tag this upcoming season. Coming up here on First Take with SGA returning to the floor tonight. What does this mean for the Spurs' chances of catching OKC in the race for the one seed in the West? And look who it is. WWE superstar Seth Rollins is in the building. He's here to preview tomorrow's Elimination Chamber in Chicago, a place he knows a thing or two about. Don't fall. We don't need you further injured. How are you? Good to see you. We'll be right back. Don't go anywhere. The want. The will. The winner of this matchup goes on to WrestleMania. The Wimpy City. Stream Elimination Chamber on the ESPN app with the ESPN Unlimited plan. We are now joined by WWE superstar Seth Rollins, friend of the program. Dealing with a little bit of an injury, still recovering from a rotator cuff. Do we have an update on the injury? Because you're not going to be able to do anything this weekend. No, I will not be able to do anything this weekend. But we're getting close. I mean, look, I can move it around. It's not in a sling anymore. It's feeling good. It was in October when I got the surgery. So, you know, you look at the timeline. We're getting close. We're getting close. We're not all the way there, but we're getting close, guys. Well, when you do officially return, and by the way, it's always good to see you, my brother. But when you do officially return, what wrestler do you want to face most? Stephen A., that is a loaded question. There's a ton of guys that I'd like to get in the ring with. But the bottom line is whoever is holding on to my world heavyweight championship, because what you've got to understand is I never lost that title. I was forced to give that title up due to injury. So I want my title back. Right now, CM Punk holding on to that title, but he's going into WrestleMania here very shortly. Actually, Elimination Chamber, since we're talking about it, he's got to get past Finn Balor. Finn Balor, a former Universal champion. So Finn Balor could be taking that into WrestleMania. Either way, somebody's defending that title against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, and whoever comes out of that, I want next, boys. because that title's mine. I never lost it. Bring it on. His wife, his wife, Seth's wife, Becky Lynch, not injured, the greatest. She'll be facing AJ Lee in a singles title match this weekend. She's talking a little smack on social media as well. How excited are you to watch her and AJ finally compete one-on-one? Well, the thing about this, guys, is we've got to understand who she's going up against. AJ Lee, in her time, great. Divas champion. That was a long time ago. AJ Lee is having her first singles match one-on-one competition in over a decade. And she is going in there against a woman who has made her name as the greatest of all time for that last decade. And that is the man, big time Becky Lynch. I am looking forward to Becky Lynch proving to the entire world why she is the greatest, the one-of-one, the man. There's no doubt in my mind she walks out of Chicago still Intercontinental Champion. I mean, look at this. Look at this stud. You put her in there with anybody, she can take him out. AJ don't stand a chance. Not a chance, Steven. Ain't nothing. Listen, listen. I'm picking Becky to win. I ain't going to lie about that. I'm picking Becky to win. My guy gets it. It's me. But, I mean, I like AJ's too as well. But let me get back to the men's for a second there because the men's elimination chamber match is set. I want to know. I want you to explain to our audience what excites you most about that and what will you be looking out for? The chamber matches are crazy, all right? So you look at the men's field right here. You got a lot of familiar names, right? You got a Jey Uso. You got a Randy Orton. You got a Cody Rhodes. But you got some unfamiliar names, too. You got an L.A. Knight, who's a fan favorite. You got a Javon Evans, who's bouncy. 21 years old, that kid is. And he's ready for the big time. And then you got a star in the making, Trick Williams. So you got a lot of young blood versus some new blood. I'm excited to see who wants it the most. because sometimes when you get these veterans, these guys who've been there before, they might take their foot off the gas just a little tiny bit. So I'm looking forward to seeing which one of these younger guys or these newer guys who haven't been in this spotlight to see if they can handle the pressure and they can step up to get to the next level. It's going to be a good fight, Stephen A. We are excited for Elimination Chamber. It's in Chicago. You know who else is a Chicago Bears fan? This guy here. Come on. Yes. All right. Yes. Yes, ma'am. We talked about this a little bit off air because last week I came on this show. I said, I didn't care if the Bears move out of Chicago and move Soldier Field to Indiana. Do I want that? Absolutely not. Do I love the views at Soldier Field? Yes. But where is your stance on where this stadium should land? You know what? This might be a controversial opinion, but I'm going to agree with you because who cares? Who cares? Who cares? They're still going to be the Chicago Bears. I don't care if they play in Hammond. I don't care if they play in Gary or Arlington Heights or wherever. If they leave the state of Illinois, it'll be a travesty on behalf of the state of Illinois that they can't keep the Bears in that state. Now, if they have to leave and go to Indiana and that's where they play, it doesn't matter. The Niners don't play in San Francisco. Let them know. The Jets, the Giants, they don't play in New York. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The Cowboys, you mentioned it, they don't play in Dallas. They play in Arlington because that's a better site for a stadium. So let's get a good stadium that's not rinky-dink. the Bears have the smallest stadium in the NFL. Let's make some cash money, Stephen A. Let's go. I want to have WrestleMania in Chicago, and we can't do that in Soldier Field in March or April. Here's the deal on a serious note. The Chicago Bears, I mean, you're the city of Chicago. This is not on the Bears. You're the city of Chicago. Think about everybody's clamoring for an NFL team. You know what it can do for the economy. You know what it can do for, you know, civic pride. You know what it can do on a lot of different levels. How in the hell are you the city of Chicago? This is shy town we're talking about here. And you're going to lose your football team to Indiana? That would be shameful. It's not the Bears' fault. It's not their fault. The city of Chicago, get your stuff together. That's ridiculous. I don't disagree. I'm with them. But just give us a stadium that's maybe state of the art and has a couple bars around it. We don't ask for much. That's all we need. Let us get in and out of there. That's all you need. Easily. Let us get in and out of there easy. We don't want a lake on one side of the thing. Give me all four sides. Beautiful, but it's not efficient. How about that? The 16th annual WWE Elimination Chamber is tomorrow at the United Center in Chicago, a spot in the men's and women's championship matches at WrestleMania 42 is on the line. Stream it exclusively with ESPN Unlimited Plan, live or on demand, using that ESPN app. Sign up or log in with your TV provider to unlock your access. Coverage begins at 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific. Coming up, Wemby and the Spurs keep on winning. So are they primed to overtake Oklahoma City for the top spot in the Western Conference? We've got a fresh hour of First Take coming your way next.