Speaker 1: Welcome in What Driving Nick Wright? Episode four eighty two.
Speaker 1: This episode of What's Right with Nick Right as always,
Speaker 1: is presented to you, pardon me, by our friends at
Speaker 1: boost Mobile. So a few programming notes for all of
Speaker 1: you guys here. We are going to actually record a
Speaker 1: number of episodes today. This one is live on YouTube.
Speaker 1: You can subscribe to the show. This is a great
Speaker 1: time to subscribe to the show on YouTube or on iTunes,
Speaker 1: are on Spotify, and get alerts on YouTube when we
Speaker 1: post a new episode because the schedule is gonna be
Speaker 1: a little different over the next ten days or so
Speaker 1: as we get our post World Cup break. So we're
Speaker 1: live right now. We are going to shortly after the
Speaker 1: show record a mail bag episode, calling it a semi
Speaker 1: monthly mail bag episode. We have some good long emails
Speaker 1: from people, thoughtful ones that have been sent to What's
Speaker 1: Right Mailbag at gmail dot com. Do that, and then
Speaker 1: we will also do back to back like fifteen minute
Speaker 1: many episodes where we spend a minute or two on
Speaker 1: each team in the NFL. Those will be dropping in
Speaker 1: your feed next week when I am out of town
Speaker 1: as I am bringing a bunch of family, extended family,
Speaker 1: A lot of people down to the Caribbean to meet
Speaker 1: Demanse's daughter, Mila, and so all of that is kind
Speaker 1: of the schedule. Also, I'm gonna say this on the
Speaker 1: front end. If you're listening to this, you know, on
Speaker 1: iTunes or Spotify, So the next few episodes are probably
Speaker 1: going to have a disproportionate ad to content. You know,
Speaker 1: rate if you will, and so I apologize for that.
Speaker 1: But sometimes, like the ads that we have are loaded
Speaker 1: as if we were gonna have an hour's worth of content,
Speaker 1: So if there's twenty minutes worth of content, it's gonna
Speaker 1: feel heavy on that front. I apologize on my end
Speaker 1: for that. I know that can be frustrating for a
Speaker 1: lot of you guys when you're listening to the show.
Speaker 1: But so you know, my apologies from it paying the bills,
Speaker 1: trying to create some content and there's no real way
Speaker 1: to cut out, you know, some of those ads. So
Speaker 1: I apologize. I don't know if people even care, but
Speaker 1: I know when I'm listening to a pod and it
Speaker 1: feels like, man, there's almost as many ads as there
Speaker 1: is talking. That can get annoying to apologies on my
Speaker 1: end if that is the case. But that's the schedule.
Speaker 1: Today's live show mailbag, a couple recorded NFL shows next
Speaker 1: week and then first week of August, we'll be back
Speaker 1: right here live with our regular shows. Demons should be
Speaker 1: joining us back for those as well. Straight the voicemail
Speaker 1: brought to you by Boost Mobile. Thank God. The Red
Speaker 1: Sox fifteen game winning streak ends nothing against the Red Sox.
Speaker 1: Kevin Wilde's just been so annoying about it. So good
Speaker 1: job by the Orioles winning five to one. Curry becomes
Speaker 1: the first active player with Hall of Fame exhibit. We're
Speaker 1: actually gonna spend some time today talking about Steph Curry
Speaker 1: and the Chiefs. New stadium renderings are revealed. The stadium
Speaker 1: looks beautiful. I have been consistent on this. I don't
Speaker 1: like that it's in Kansas. I'm not, as I think,
Speaker 1: adamantly or diametrically opposed as I once was about it
Speaker 1: being in Kansas when this first came up like five
Speaker 1: years ago. It's gonna be like twenty five minute drive
Speaker 1: from where the current stadium is. And for Chiefs fans
Speaker 1: outside of the Midwest, there's no difference if the game's
Speaker 1: played in Missouri or Kansas. But I'm a Missourian. So
Speaker 1: it bums me out that it's gonna be in Kansas.
Speaker 1: But the thing that I am adamantly against I hate
Speaker 1: that it's going to have a roof. I love outdoor football.
Speaker 1: I believe football is to be played in the elements.
Speaker 1: I think a huge part about what makes the NFL
Speaker 1: unique is can you build a team that can win
Speaker 1: in the elements. I also think it has been a
Speaker 1: advantage for the Chiefs that they have a quarterback that
Speaker 1: is so good in the cold and the wind and
Speaker 1: the snow, And I don't like that we're gonna have
Speaker 1: another one of the kind of you know, stayed domed stadiums.
Speaker 1: With that said, the fact that Patrick Mahomes in his
Speaker 1: you know age thirty five to forty seasons will be
Speaker 1: playing indoors probably good for the Chiefs. But overall, I
Speaker 1: just I wish there was more or fewer dome stadiums,
Speaker 1: and the Chiefs becoming a dome stadium bums me out
Speaker 1: a bit. Okay, Now, so the news of the week
Speaker 1: post World Cup, which is where the hell is Lebron
Speaker 1: James going? That news moved a bit, I suppose this
Speaker 1: week because someone in the Miami Heat digital or social
Speaker 1: media team posts posted a scheduled live stream for July
Speaker 1: twenty seventh, which is I guessed Monday, this coming Monday.
Speaker 1: That said, Lebron James introductory press conference. I can tell you,
Speaker 1: beyond a shadow of a doubt that the idea that
Speaker 1: Lebron's decision not only has been made, but has been
Speaker 1: shared with enough people that it got down to the
Speaker 1: person who is running the Heat's YouTube channel. The idea
Speaker 1: of that is utterly preposterous. If that many people knew,
Speaker 1: it would be out there one hundred percent leaked and
Speaker 1: reported elsewhere. So in that regard, I think this is
Speaker 1: a I don't want to call it harmless, but just
Speaker 1: a mistake. With that said, right now, the Heat feel
Speaker 1: like the most viable option. And I have wavered and
Speaker 1: waffled and flip flopped and gone back and forth on
Speaker 1: where I thought he was gonna go, Where I want
Speaker 1: him to go, what makes the is the best story,
Speaker 1: what gives him the best chance to win all of that.
Speaker 1: But as we sit here today on July twenty third,
Speaker 1: I am hoping he goes to Miami because the more
Speaker 1: I look at it and the more I think about it,
Speaker 1: I think Miami does of the I think there's Let
Speaker 1: me also back up a bit. I think you can
Speaker 1: safely say that the list at most, at most is
Speaker 1: four teams long, Miami, Philly, Cleveland, Golden State. That's not
Speaker 1: necessarily the order I think the list is in, But
Speaker 1: those are the four teams Denver, which we had flirted
Speaker 1: with the idea of I do not believe to be
Speaker 1: truly in consideration. Minnesota, which a lot of people are
Speaker 1: still talking about. I do not believe to be truly
Speaker 1: in consideration. I think we're down to those four and
Speaker 1: I also contrary to many of my colleagues, but with
Speaker 1: what I will say is with good reason. I want
Speaker 1: to be very careful with how I phrase these things.
Speaker 1: I do not believe. I I believe this is taking
Speaker 1: this long. Not because Lebron is trying to perfectly time
Speaker 1: the news cycle for maximum attention on the announcement, not
Speaker 1: because Lebron is just enjoying toying with everyone in the
Speaker 1: NBA and the media. I believe this is taking this
Speaker 1: long because Lebron is yet to actually decide. And if
Speaker 1: that's the case, and he's weighing pros cons, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: here is how I would stack now again, I keep
Speaker 1: interrupting myself. There's a lot here. He has made it
Speaker 1: very clear, and Rich has made it very clear. This
Speaker 1: is about happiness and I can't define and about family
Speaker 1: and about Zuri, and I can't define what make you
Speaker 1: know will make Lebron the happiest? You know what? I
Speaker 1: obviously don't know what his wife Savannah, his daughter Zuri want,
Speaker 1: so I can't weigh those parts of the decision. All
Speaker 1: I can do as far as weighing parts of the
Speaker 1: decision is look at However, much of this decision is
Speaker 1: about winning a fifth championship. Where is the best place
Speaker 1: to do that? And when you're weighing that piece of it,
Speaker 1: you have to keep in mind what I have been
Speaker 1: saying for gosh months, more than a year, and now
Speaker 1: folks are finally I think catching on that Lebron has
Speaker 1: never said that next year is his last year. That
Speaker 1: while this almost assuredly is his last team change, wherever
Speaker 1: he chooses this year is not necessarily and in fact,
Speaker 1: I think it is unlikely to be a one year
Speaker 1: final stop as opposed to a couple year tenure and
Speaker 1: an attempt to continue his history of every time he
Speaker 1: has changed teams. By year two, that team has been
Speaker 1: a champion. I've talked about this a lot, but it
Speaker 1: is It does warrant, you know, revisiting. He leaves Cleveland
Speaker 1: to go to Miami. Miami had not won a playoff
Speaker 1: series since they won the title in two thousand and six.
Speaker 1: He gets there in twenty ten. In twenty twelve, their champions.
Speaker 1: He leaves Miami to go back to Cleveland. Cleveland had
Speaker 1: been the worst team in the NBA in the four
Speaker 1: years he was gone, had not sniffed the playoffs, had
Speaker 1: picked number one three times. He gets there in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 1: By twenty sixteen, their champions. He leaves Cleveland to go
Speaker 1: to Los Angeles. Los Angeles had been literally had the
Speaker 1: worst record in the league in the five years before
Speaker 1: he got there, had not won a playoff game in
Speaker 1: a half decade. He gets there in twenty eighteen. By
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, their champions. Wherever he goes next, I believe
Speaker 1: he is going to go somewhere that he believes that,
Speaker 1: if not by twenty twenty seven, by twenty twenty, they
Speaker 1: can be champions. And for that reason, I think the
Speaker 1: best fit and the best option, and I really disagree
Speaker 1: with Simmons on this is Miami because Miami is the
Speaker 1: only spot where if they were to make the finals
Speaker 1: and be up against Joker or Wimby or Shay or
Speaker 1: Luca or whomever comes out of the West, he would
Speaker 1: not be being asked, hey man, you gotta match what
Speaker 1: that in his prime Apex Predator Superstar is presenting. That
Speaker 1: would be Jannis's job. And as good as Jalen Brown
Speaker 1: and Tyrese Maxi are if he were in Philly, it
Speaker 1: would fall on him. As good as Donovan Mitchell is
Speaker 1: if he were in Philly, it would fall on him.
Speaker 1: And then we'll get to the issues with the Warriors
Speaker 1: in a moment. In Miami, that would fall on Giannis,
Speaker 1: one of the twenty greatest players ever who has something
Speaker 1: to prove. Furthermore, in Miami, Miami last year the number
Speaker 1: thirteen offense and the number thirteen defense, a decidedly barely
Speaker 1: above average team on both sides of the ball. Adding
Speaker 1: Giannis and Lebron immediately gives them the opportunity to be
Speaker 1: a top six offense and six defense. Because you're adding Giannis,
Speaker 1: you're losing Tyler Hero. So even if Lebron is not
Speaker 1: adding much on the defensive end throughout the regular season.
Speaker 1: That hero to Giannis flip is just in almost undefinably
Speaker 1: great on that side of the ball. Giannis is thirty
Speaker 1: points per game on fifty five percent in his sleep,
Speaker 1: and every offense Lebron orchestrates is somewhere from super elite
Speaker 1: to very good. Lebron would on this team with Andrew Wiggins,
Speaker 1: Davion Mitchell, bam Adebayo Yannis be able to spend all
Speaker 1: of his energy on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: and while they wouldn't have, they would be a below
Speaker 1: average shooting team. Bobby Ports and Tim Hardaway Junior coming
Speaker 1: off the bench might give you just enough spacing at times.
Speaker 1: And then you add to the fact it's Miami, and
Speaker 1: I do not think it would be just as I'm
Speaker 1: saying for the one year experiment. You would have a
Speaker 1: couple more transaction cycles to try to fill out the shooting,
Speaker 1: but you would have the athleticism, you would have the defense,
Speaker 1: you would have the requisite wing play that is so
Speaker 1: hard to find. A lot easier to find someone who
Speaker 1: can shoot than it is some than it is switchable
Speaker 1: long bigs like Giannison bam You add to it that
Speaker 1: of that entire group, Spolstra with respect I mean nurse,
Speaker 1: very good coach. Steve Kurr is obviously an all time coach.
Speaker 1: I think Spolstra might be the best coach of them all.
Speaker 1: I think that makes a lot of sense. So I
Speaker 1: stacked Miami here number two I would have at Philly. Now,
Speaker 1: Philly is a cleaner fit as far as Maxi, Edgecombe, Brown,
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown, EMBIID than any of the other options. The
Speaker 1: problem for Philly is, and I've been a long term
Speaker 1: you know, fan supporter. However you want to put it
Speaker 1: of embid, But how do you get continuity and get
Speaker 1: in a rhythm and develop an identity when you simply
Speaker 1: have no idea whether or not a guy who on
Speaker 1: any given night can look like the best player in
Speaker 1: the whole league is going to be there. I think
Speaker 1: that makes it a little clunky. I think Jalen Brown,
Speaker 1: who is going to want at some point a contract extension,
Speaker 1: and clearly I think it's fair to say wanted his
Speaker 1: own team all of a sudden, going somewhere where it's like, well,
Speaker 1: embiids the MVP who's been here the longest. Maxi's the
Speaker 1: superstar on the Ascent and oh yeah, Lebron freaking James
Speaker 1: is here. I think that would it again, it could
Speaker 1: potentially be difficult personality wise, So I don't think Philly
Speaker 1: is a bad idea. And from a purely selfish me
Speaker 1: being able to go to the most games possible for
Speaker 1: Lebron's final act in the league, it is the best
Speaker 1: for me personally. I don't think it works quite as
Speaker 1: well as the Key where everyone would know exactly their role,
Speaker 1: and then to me there's a big gap. And in
Speaker 1: third place as far as fit and winning a championship
Speaker 1: is Cleveland. And we've talked about this. We talked about
Speaker 1: this ad nauseum the moment they traded for Harden, which
Speaker 1: is Lebron didn't seem to love third option with Luca
Speaker 1: Austin than him. He would be in a very similar
Speaker 1: position Donovan Harden him where he's clearly better than Harden.
Speaker 1: But Harden can only play one way, needs the ball
Speaker 1: in his hands. And I don't know. I understand that
Speaker 1: team has Biggs in Allen and Mobiley, but I don't
Speaker 1: know that they have anybody to guard a point guard,
Speaker 1: to guard one of the shifty perimeter players. In the
Speaker 1: league to prevent them from getting to the rim. Now
Speaker 1: you would have rim protection, But I just don't know
Speaker 1: how capable that team is defensively in a series against Shay,
Speaker 1: in a series against the perimeter guys the Spurs have
Speaker 1: in Hell in a series against Edgecomb and Maxie in
Speaker 1: the East, and that's tough. And because I believe if
Speaker 1: Lebron was definitively just doing a farewell tour and it
Speaker 1: was just one more year, then okay, maybe it just
Speaker 1: makes sense finish where you started. And also, to be clear,
Speaker 1: I think any of these three teams I've listed, if
Speaker 1: they add Lebron, can win the East. But winning these
Speaker 1: is one thing. Winning that extra series the finals is
Speaker 1: something else. And I think of the three Eastern Conference
Speaker 1: teams Miami, Philly and Cleveland, Cleveland will have the toughest
Speaker 1: shot at winning that final series and so that's why
Speaker 1: they're third. They are, however, ahead of the Warriors, who
Speaker 1: I will discuss how I think the Warriors screwed this up,
Speaker 1: or I shouldn't say screwed this up. Where I think
Speaker 1: the Warriors have misstepped, why I don't like the fit
Speaker 1: and one other team that I think has to be
Speaker 1: kicking themselves saying, were we just going to be the
Speaker 1: favorites to get Lebron had we held our water on
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Speaker 1: All right. So the Warriors, which at one point in
Speaker 1: time I think I said I wanted I didn't want
Speaker 1: him to go there, then I did wanted to go there.
Speaker 1: Had if they had been able to swing a trade
Speaker 1: for Anthony Davis, then it makes a little more sense
Speaker 1: as presently constituted. If they were to add Lebron James,
Speaker 1: they would excuse me, obviously be a team that you
Speaker 1: would hate to play in a series, but also a
Speaker 1: team with Chris STAPs and Steph coming off an injury
Speaker 1: riddled season, and Horford at forty and Jimmy Butler coming
Speaker 1: off in ACL and Draymond a I think thirty five
Speaker 1: is Draymond thirty five and Lebron at forty two, that
Speaker 1: it would be very difficult to shoot. No, Dravon just
Speaker 1: turned thirty six to see how they can win four
Speaker 1: straight series. And I really did enjoy seeing Lebron and
Speaker 1: Steph play together in the Olympics, and we know that works.
Speaker 1: But I understand folks who feel like it would just
Speaker 1: be weird. Now what I said at the front end
Speaker 1: that if I can't figure out how you know where
Speaker 1: Lebron's wife and daughter want him to go, and if
Speaker 1: the fact that San Francisco is the easiest flight and
Speaker 1: it would be the least disruptive to his family plays
Speaker 1: a large factor in it than God bless salute. I
Speaker 1: like totally understand it, but from a basketball perspective, I don't.
Speaker 1: I like it the least, which brings me to Anthony Slater,
Speaker 1: who on NBA Today yesterday. Oh that's my pal Mjay
Speaker 1: Acosta hosting in this clip shout out. MJ was asked
Speaker 1: what the Warriors plan be without Lebron is and he said,
Speaker 1: quote boring. I think stable. Part of the Warriors long
Speaker 1: term plan is post Steph. Right now, it's not really
Speaker 1: about the next couple of years. Think about the way
Speaker 1: they've kept their books clean. They have a lot of optionality,
Speaker 1: they've kept their draft picks. I am here to tell you,
Speaker 1: and I am consistent on this and Steph fans, many
Speaker 1: of whom can't stay and me, I'm your biggest ally
Speaker 1: on this one. You should be beside yourself that they
Speaker 1: have not done everything they can to maximize the end
Speaker 1: of Steph Curry. He was an all NBA level player
Speaker 1: two years ago. The he has Obviously he was a hell.
Speaker 1: He was an All NBA third team All NBA player
Speaker 1: three years ago. This year, the reason he didn't wasn't
Speaker 1: an All NBA guy was because of the injury. He
Speaker 1: didn't play enough games like a lot of the older legends. Yes,
Speaker 1: he does not have as much of an impact on
Speaker 1: winning as he won did, but he is still, without
Speaker 1: a shadow of a doubt, one of the twenty best
Speaker 1: players in the league, and if you get him in
Speaker 1: the right spot, one of the ten scariest playoff guys
Speaker 1: in the league. And for the Warriors to be focused
Speaker 1: on and worried about and thinking about their post Steph life,
Speaker 1: it's just abominable. And I've talked about this before, but
Speaker 1: I will talk about it again. It is what I
Speaker 1: saw the Cleveland Cavaliers do. It's crazy that this was
Speaker 1: eight years ago, but in or I guess nine years ago.
Speaker 1: But when they had an opportunity, when Kyrie was demanding
Speaker 1: out to have Paul George be the focal point of
Speaker 1: that trade, but they weren't going to get any draft
Speaker 1: picks attached to it, and they wanted to focus on
Speaker 1: their post Lebron life, and so instead the focal point
Speaker 1: of the trade was little Isaiah Thomas coming off a
Speaker 1: hip injury because they so desperately wanted to pick that
Speaker 1: ended up becoming Colin Sexton, the eighth pick of the draft,
Speaker 1: and Lebron dragged that team to the finals anyway, but
Speaker 1: then found himself drawing dead in those finals. And now
Speaker 1: eight years later, they've made one conference finals, and their
Speaker 1: only hope to get further than that is praying Lebron
Speaker 1: saves them again. When you have one of these guys,
Speaker 1: and many franchises go the entirety of their existence without
Speaker 1: ever having one of these guys, you do everything you
Speaker 1: can to elongate and maximize your contention window with them,
Speaker 1: and the Warriors being like, all right, I guess we'll
Speaker 1: trade for Jimmy Butler not going all in to get ad,
Speaker 1: not doing the things necessary to maximize steps final what
Speaker 1: might be is I mean, for all we know, two
Speaker 1: years ago was his final year of actual semi contention.
Speaker 1: But we'll see if he has one more in him.
Speaker 1: I'd be beside myself. Beside myself now, I said there
Speaker 1: was another team that if I were a fan of,
Speaker 1: I'd probably be a little frustrated and this all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, I've seen this take on Twitter the last
Speaker 1: thirty six hours. You simply have to take my word
Speaker 1: on this that this is something I've been talking to
Speaker 1: Bruin Wilds about off the air for days. Really. I
Speaker 1: started talking about this, and I don't know if I
Speaker 1: ever did it on the pod when we did the
Speaker 1: Rich Paul from his podcast with Kellerman game over the
Speaker 1: whiteboard and that what Dallas had underneath it was you know,
Speaker 1: gas I'm sorry, not gas oil, cassinine Macaw Africa because
Speaker 1: a MESSI I think there is a very real chance
Speaker 1: that if Dallas had just held their water and not
Speaker 1: accepted twenty cents on the dollar for Anthony Davis and
Speaker 1: Lebron had the opportunity to go to Dallas, which might
Speaker 1: be as close to Los Angeles and a flight wise
Speaker 1: damn near as close as San Francisco is, to play
Speaker 1: with Kyrie, Anthony Davis and year two and three of
Speaker 1: Cooper Flag with a little added bonus of all right,
Speaker 1: the Lakers understandably, of course, yeah, you prioritize Luca, he's younger,
Speaker 1: got it going to where Luca was and then having
Speaker 1: the Lakers have to deal with him there. I think
Speaker 1: they would have been, if not at the top, very
Speaker 1: high on his list of possibilble options. But instead they
Speaker 1: traded ad for nothing and now they're you know, the
Speaker 1: biggest thing they have going for him is that the
Speaker 1: Adelson's own casinos and macow and golf is good in Dallas.
Speaker 1: It's a very interesting little sliding doors moment. Now, I
Speaker 1: also want to address this idea that I thought at
Speaker 1: one point that Lebron is waiting for a pot sweetener.
Speaker 1: So we'll do that in a moment. But first, the
Speaker 1: World Cup may be over, but there's still plenty of
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Speaker 1: seat geek. All right. So Rich Paul said recently on
Speaker 1: Game Over, there's been several people to call and say, hey, Rich,
Speaker 1: is there anything more we should be doing, we could
Speaker 1: be doing, And my answer is no, we don't need
Speaker 1: you to go above and beyond anything. We understand it's
Speaker 1: clear all the messages have been sent. Now. Kevin O'Connor
Speaker 1: yesterday said the popular theory around the league is that
Speaker 1: Lebron has been slow playing his decision to see if
Speaker 1: any of his suitors could find a way to land
Speaker 1: Irving or Davis. If a team proved capable of acquiring
Speaker 1: one of his championship teammates, sources say it might sway
Speaker 1: him in that direction. So Kevin's theory was a theory
Speaker 1: that I shared is a couple of weeks ago that
Speaker 1: I wonder if there's a pot sweetener, if there's a
Speaker 1: way for Cleveland to turn James Harden into Kyrie Irving
Speaker 1: with that get the deal done. We obviously at one
Speaker 1: point in time, I do think it's accurate to say,
Speaker 1: you know, had the Warriors gotten Anthony Davis, that the
Speaker 1: decision would be greatly affected. But I have since been
Speaker 1: told whether that was true in the past or not,
Speaker 1: that what Rich is saying, is absolutely true that this
Speaker 1: decision is not predicated on another team making another move,
Speaker 1: and that they are not waiting for another team to
Speaker 1: make another move. And the only critique I would have
Speaker 1: on Koc's quote and shout out Koc, I he's one
Speaker 1: hundred percent correct that this is a popular theory around
Speaker 1: the league when he says if a team proved capable
Speaker 1: of acquiring one of his championship championship teammates, sources say
Speaker 1: it might sway him. I am really here to tell you,
Speaker 1: and this is not an indictment on Koc at all.
Speaker 1: He's talking to people and reporting, you know what they're saying.
Speaker 1: Whatever sources out there are claiming they have an insight
Speaker 1: to this decision are not being honest. I which is
Speaker 1: why I have not claimed at any point an insight
Speaker 1: to this decision. And I am not saying I am
Speaker 1: an NBA reporter. I'm not even Actually I don't consider
Speaker 1: myself a journalist. I have a journalism degree, I occasionally
Speaker 1: practice journalism journalism, but I am not a journalist. I
Speaker 1: am saying that this process is being held as close
Speaker 1: to the vest as anything I can remember, and they
Speaker 1: are simple, not only are they not talking. They're not
Speaker 1: giving you a little wink nods in any direction. So
Speaker 1: when if a source is saying, hey, I'm hearing this
Speaker 1: would sway Lebron, that source is misinformed.
Speaker 3: So I I don't know when this gets resolved.
Speaker 1: Which does bring us to Adam Silver at FanFest saying, quote,
Speaker 1: we have to finish up the schedule. Where Lebron plays
Speaker 1: affects the schedule. It will influence how we set the
Speaker 1: schedule opening week Christmas. So I need him to make
Speaker 1: a decision. I'm sure Adam Silver, I didn't watch that.
Speaker 1: I just read the quote. I'm sure he said it
Speaker 1: with a smile and maybe even a laugh. This is
Speaker 1: what I would say to any of the teams in
Speaker 1: the Lebron sweepsakes, if you will, or to the like
Speaker 1: let me talk to the teams in the league. Any
Speaker 1: of these teams are totally within their rights to be like,
Speaker 1: you know what, we gotta move on, we got to
Speaker 1: set our rosters. We've got to know we're out of
Speaker 1: the running here. There's a reason they haven't because all
Speaker 1: of those teams know that either their only shot at
Speaker 1: winning a title, or certainly their best shot at winning
Speaker 1: a title, is them adding Lebron James for almost no money.
Speaker 1: And as far as the league, and even if this
Speaker 1: was said with a smile and a laugh, Lebron has
Speaker 1: been carrying a disproportionate amount of weight for this league
Speaker 1: for a quarter century. And if the league thinks they
Speaker 1: still need Lebron James to rate on Opening Week or Christmas,
Speaker 1: well that's a league problem. You're in about year seven
Speaker 1: of bonus years that you've gotten out of Lebron, So
Speaker 1: figure that out on your own. And because Lebron is
Speaker 1: sacrificing money and not prioritizing money, he can take as
Speaker 1: long as he wants. There's no cap space to be spent.
Speaker 1: And it is remarkable that a guy at this point
Speaker 1: in his career is still this influential and important. But
Speaker 1: it's where it is that Lebron is going to be
Speaker 1: without a doubt. Well, no, I shouldn't say that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let me put it like this, Lebron is going to
Speaker 1: be without a doubt. One of the three best players
Speaker 1: to change teams this offseason. Giannis is the best player
Speaker 1: to change teams this offseason. Jalen Brown and Lebron are
Speaker 1: the rest of the top three. Order them, how you want,
Speaker 1: and I'm not. I don't want. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: get the Ball family after me. But Lebron is more impactful, better,
Speaker 1: And it's just I'm not comparing Lebron to LaMelo Ball.
Speaker 1: I'm just I refuse to engage in it. And so
Speaker 1: ye're twenty four or not. It's it's a seismic event
Speaker 1: for the league. And the fact that for Giannis, for
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown, hell even for LaMelo, you had to trade
Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff to get the guy, and they're
Speaker 1: making a max deal and Lebron you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: give up nothing and he's making almost no money. That
Speaker 1: that makes him all the more impactful. Boost Mobile's proving
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Speaker 1: as of January twenty twenty six. For full off for details,
Speaker 1: visit boost mobile dot com. All Right, few quick non
Speaker 1: Lebron stories. Wimby is gonna be the cover athlete for
Speaker 1: NBA two K, and I think he is. There is
Speaker 1: no more of a debate about the next face of
Speaker 1: the league. It's obviously going to be him. You could
Speaker 1: argue he already is. I think that as long as
Speaker 1: Lebron is playing, and certainly, you know what I'll add,
Speaker 1: as long as Lebron and Steph are playing, those guys
Speaker 1: are going to take the gold and silver for face
Speaker 1: of the league. But Wimby is the heir apparent and
Speaker 1: no one's gonna challenge him. It would appear. I also
Speaker 1: saw what Tracy McGrady said that Wimby's gonna sweep all
Speaker 1: the awards defensive player of your MVP set in season,
Speaker 1: tournament MVP. I think he, you know, Finals MVP is
Speaker 1: the implication there, and he certainly might. The sixty five
Speaker 1: game rule is always going to be I think a
Speaker 1: struggle for him, and you know, he's played three years,
Speaker 1: He's played one hundred and eighty games. He's averaged eighteen
Speaker 1: hundred minutes a year. Last year he played sixty five
Speaker 1: games on the nose, including the nd season tournament championship game,
Speaker 1: And so you know, he desperately wanted to win MVP
Speaker 1: last year and he barely made the cut for eligibility.
Speaker 1: But let's just assume he played sixty five games. Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year. Sure, I and we talked about
Speaker 1: this a bit on the TV show yesterday. I just
Speaker 1: want to hammer this point home right here. I am
Speaker 1: really interested in the types of shots in what Wimby
Speaker 1: works on this offseason, because Wimby fancies himself an elite shooter,
Speaker 1: but he at no point in his career has he
Speaker 1: been and his shot diet, as they say, is one
Speaker 1: of a guy who's an excellent shooter, and he is
Speaker 1: an excellent free throw shooter, but in no way, shape
Speaker 1: or form is he an excellent three point shooter. And
Speaker 1: you know, we can go back far, and it's probably
Speaker 1: not fair to go back too far because he was
Speaker 1: a kid, but his final two years playing in France
Speaker 1: he was twenty six percent and twenty seven percent from three.
Speaker 1: In the pros, he has been thirty three percent thirty
Speaker 1: five percent, thirty five percent from three playoffs, he was
Speaker 1: thirty four percent. Last year, there were eighty eight guys
Speaker 1: who took as many threes a game as Wimby. He
Speaker 1: was sixty fifth of those eighty eight guys in three
Speaker 1: point percentage. Last year, in the playoffs, there were forty
Speaker 1: four guys who took as many threes per game as Wimby.
Speaker 1: He was twenty four percent as twenty four percent. Sorry,
Speaker 1: he was twenty fourth of those forty four in three
Speaker 1: point percentage. I said it after Game one of the
Speaker 1: Conference finals that I thought he had made his case.
Speaker 1: He's best player in the world. And so if you're
Speaker 1: the best player in the world, you obviously are in
Speaker 1: the running for MVP every single year. And whether he
Speaker 1: is or isn't the best player in the world, he's
Speaker 1: going to be in the running for MVP every single year.
Speaker 1: I also, sorry, I also fervently believe that for Wimby
Speaker 1: to become a consistently great, not good great offensive player.
Speaker 1: Now I'll interrupt myself again, he does not have to
Speaker 1: be a consistently great offensive player to be the best
Speaker 1: player in the league, because he's so much, far and
Speaker 1: away the best defensive player that if he's just a
Speaker 1: very good offensive player plus being an eight quadruple plus
Speaker 1: offensive player, he can be the best player in the league.
Speaker 1: So don't get a twist what I'm saying. But if
Speaker 1: he wants to become a great player absent of his
Speaker 1: impact on the defensive to the ball, a great offensive player,
Speaker 1: one of two things has to happen. He either has
Speaker 1: to change how he approaches offense and lean into his
Speaker 1: size more heavily and add some strength, or he just
Speaker 1: flintly has to become a better shooter. Last year, he
Speaker 1: was same attempts per game, same percentage from three as
Speaker 1: cadut Like, He's within a couple tenths of a point
Speaker 1: on attempts per game and three point percentage of these
Speaker 1: three other players, Cad Cunningham, Lou Dort, Scoot Henderson, all
Speaker 1: none of by the way, none of those guys are
Speaker 1: bad three point shooters, but none of them would be
Speaker 1: considered good three point shooters. They're fine. They're all fine
Speaker 1: three point shooters. And when you're seven to six and
Speaker 1: have that type of physical advantages, letting unless you become
Speaker 1: an knockdown three point shooter, you're letting the other team
Speaker 1: off the hook. So that's really Listen, There's obviously big
Speaker 1: questions about Wemby's you know, health and how many minutes
Speaker 1: you can play, those types of things. Put those to
Speaker 1: the side. The on the court game stuff is he
Speaker 1: either needs to play more inside and gets and to
Speaker 1: do that, he's gonna have to get stronger, or he's
Speaker 1: just got to become a better shooter. And that's as
Speaker 1: fair of a critique as you're ever gonna hear. And then, last,
Speaker 1: but not least, the NFL Top one hundred keeps coming
Speaker 1: out and Jalen hurts. This year's quarterback list has been weird.
Speaker 1: Lamar in the sixties after being in the top ten
Speaker 1: and for top five I think him back to back years,
Speaker 1: and now Jalen, after being in the top twenty three
Speaker 1: straight years, comes in at fifty six. And not only
Speaker 1: do I think that's mostly fair, uh, I think most
Speaker 1: people I don't care so much about the fifty you know,
Speaker 1: the numerical ranking amongst all players as much as I
Speaker 1: do where he is amongst quarterbacks, my little back of
Speaker 1: the napkin. Wait, what quarterbacks haven't been revealed yet? I
Speaker 1: think there's ten guys quarterbacks who are gonna be revealed,
Speaker 1: who haven't been revealed, Mahomes, Alan Stafford, May Burrow, Caleb Golf, Donald,
Speaker 1: Herbert Dak which would put Jalen Hurts as the eleventh
Speaker 1: best quarterback according to the players, ahead of Lamar, which
Speaker 1: a lot of people under I get are gonna take
Speaker 1: a shoe with. And I'm one of those people. I
Speaker 1: get that so and I don't think Herbert's better than it,
Speaker 1: but a lot of people think Herbert's great point is
Speaker 1: this on the Jalen Hurts thing, I think most people
Speaker 1: he comes into eleven. I think most people, if they're
Speaker 1: actually doing pencil and paper on their quarterback rankings, have
Speaker 1: him somewhere between nine and twelve. So you might take
Speaker 1: individual issue with this guy him being ahead of this
Speaker 1: guy and being behind, but directionally having Jalen Hurts right
Speaker 1: now is the eleventh best quarterback in the league I
Speaker 1: think is about right. Also, NFL Top one hundred players
Speaker 1: list by the players, You're gonna have eighteen quarterbacks on
Speaker 1: this list. Too many. Can't have eighteen of the top
Speaker 1: one hundred players be quarterbacks. Can't It's too many? All right,
Speaker 1: We're gonna do a mailbag. We're gonna hit on every
Speaker 1: NFL team. We're gonna do all of that in our
Speaker 1: next three episodes that are gonna be coming to you
Speaker 1: tomorrow and then throughout next week, So subscribe to the
Speaker 1: pod so you don't miss them. This is our last
Speaker 1: live show until I get back from vacation. I will
Speaker 1: talk to you guys then, or I will talk to
Speaker 1: you guys tomorrow with the Mailbag. Thank you to Boost Mobile,
Speaker 1: to Seat Geek, to hard Rock, Bet two Volume, and
Speaker 1: a Blue Duck. See you guys tomorrow for the mailbag episode,
Speaker 1: What's Tray