Speaker 1: Play. But there's gonna be a lot of soda drinking,
Speaker 1: even some beer drinking in Oakland this Sunday night, in fact,
Speaker 1: in homes across the country, as the Cleveland Cavaliers, led
Speaker 1: by some amazing playing last night by Lebron James, come
Speaker 1: back from a three game deficit to move on to
Speaker 1: Game seven against the Oakland the Golden State Warriors this
Speaker 1: Sunday night. Quite a game, quite a showdown. And Scott
Speaker 1: Sashnik is here, our sports reporter at large, to put
Speaker 1: this in contacts for US. I guess Scott's starting with
Speaker 1: what this means for the Cavaliers franchise if they pull
Speaker 1: this off. Quite apart from the drama, for anybody who's
Speaker 1: been watching these games, this has been amazing. Well, this
Speaker 1: goes back to when Lebron left Cleveland. He left because
Speaker 1: he didn't feel he could win there, so he went
Speaker 1: to Miami. He got his two titles, then he said
Speaker 1: he wanted to go back home to fulfill that destiny
Speaker 1: and win a championship for the city that has been struggling.
Speaker 1: Didn't look good down three one. Stuff was playing well,
Speaker 1: the Warriors were playing well. Yeah, everybody's play. It didn't
Speaker 1: look so good for the for the Calves. Here they
Speaker 1: are though they've done what they had to do three three,
Speaker 1: And if you're Lebron James, you have to let your
Speaker 1: chances in a one one game lottery? Sure? Why not?
Speaker 1: All right, Scott, They're gonna be playing Sunday, as Kathleen
Speaker 1: mentioned at the Oracle Arena. And what's your call on
Speaker 1: this game? Are the Cavaliers gonna take it? Or will
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors send Steph Curry take it? Why
Speaker 1: do you put me in these positions because that's what
Speaker 1: you get paid for it. Well, to think of a
Speaker 1: team that hadn't lost many games at all this year,
Speaker 1: record breaking season for the Warriors. They did lose Andrew Bogat.
Speaker 1: Let's not minimize they're not at full strength. But back
Speaker 1: on the home floor, comfort, sleep in your own bed,
Speaker 1: all the things that a home crowd gives. It'd be
Speaker 1: hard for me to fathom that team losing three games
Speaker 1: in a row, even though they don't look they looked
Speaker 1: a little wobbly in the last two. If they're we're
Speaker 1: gonna regain their footing there you go back on your
Speaker 1: home floor. You've got to give a slight edge to
Speaker 1: the calf to the to the Warriors, simply because they're
Speaker 1: back in those familiar territories, so give them a slight edge.
Speaker 1: But again, Lebron on fire the last couple of games,
Speaker 1: and Draymond Green was out the game before last. But
Speaker 1: even with even with Draymond Green back, and I know
Speaker 1: he was on his home court. Yeah, it's I mean,
Speaker 1: this is what you were set up for going into
Speaker 1: this playoffs. Everybody wanted to see the record setting team
Speaker 1: against arguably the best player in the league in Lebron
Speaker 1: or is it staff Lebron? Has he helped craft this
Speaker 1: team he wanted? Kevin Love, you want to carry Irving?
Speaker 1: This is the team he wanted. He no matter what
Speaker 1: he says, he helped to pick these players he could
Speaker 1: never have foreseen as nobody in the NBA did. Not
Speaker 1: only the Warriors, but the rise of Steph Curry. Everything
Speaker 1: has become about Steph. All those Lebron jerseys you saw
Speaker 1: a few years ago New York City. You walk around,
Speaker 1: maybe I'll see a Porzingis or Karmelo Anthony. Maybe all
Speaker 1: I see is Steph Curry. All the kids know is
Speaker 1: Warriors and Steph and the kids are He's changed the game,
Speaker 1: They're taking three point shots from twenty five ft away.
Speaker 1: Revolutionized the game. He's selling more jersey than anybody else.
Speaker 1: He's a great billboard for the league. He's gonna be
Speaker 1: a great international spokesman as Lebron was. Now we see
Speaker 1: if you can add back to back champion to it,
Speaker 1: because Lebron needs that. In Cleveland, can I get your
Speaker 1: assessment of the first quarter, because the Cavaliers right, I
Speaker 1: mean they right, I mean what happened Golden State scoring
Speaker 1: in the first quarter, I believe was the fewest quarter
Speaker 1: first quarter points that the team has scored in a
Speaker 1: finals game in the shot clock era. You know, this
Speaker 1: is gonna sound really simplistic and maybe even a bit dumb,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna do it anyway more than any other team.
Speaker 1: You know what it boils down to for the Warriors,
Speaker 1: and of course it's the basis upon which the entire
Speaker 1: game is laid. They need to make their shots. You
Speaker 1: can't guard the shots. You can make them try and
Speaker 1: you've seen a little holding and it's been a little
Speaker 1: more difficult for stuff to get open around those screens.
Speaker 1: But these guys throughout the season, they've won because Clay
Speaker 1: Thompson and Steph Curry, even with a seven footer in
Speaker 1: their face from thirty two ft away, make the shots.
Speaker 1: So if they have one of those games where those
Speaker 1: two guys make their shots, which more often than not
Speaker 1: they do, they're going to win. If Cleveland wins, you know,
Speaker 1: you just had a scoop on a steak in the calves.
Speaker 1: What does it mean for the value of their franchise?
Speaker 1: What does it mean for the city of Cleveland, Well,
Speaker 1: they can what does it mean they can stop talking
Speaker 1: about Ernest Binder and whoa is us? The fumble, all
Speaker 1: the bad things that happened. Line man, come on the money.
Speaker 1: I don't think means anything for the valuation of the
Speaker 1: franchise because as all of the pillars that drive valuation
Speaker 1: your national revenues, you'll this this is a marquee team
Speaker 1: with arguably again the best player in the world. They're
Speaker 1: high profile. They make tons of national TV appearances the
Speaker 1: most you can. They have an international following, they have
Speaker 1: superstar players, they sell out, Their marketing is great, their
Speaker 1: sponsorship is great. Because of all those things. Can they
Speaker 1: get a little halo bump off a championship sort of
Speaker 1: a little five T kicker on their sponsors or tickets. Sure, yeah,
Speaker 1: he could probably ring a few extra pennies out out
Speaker 1: of his customers. But when you're talking about billion and
Speaker 1: a half two billion dollar franchises, you're talking pennies on
Speaker 1: the dollar. All right, we're gonna be looking, of course,
Speaker 1: on Sunday Game seven Sunday Oracle Arena, eight pm Eastern
Speaker 1: Time on ABC. Thank you very much to Scott Sashnik,
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Sports reporter at large. You're listening to taking Stock
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio.