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Speaker 1: This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up?

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Speaker 1: Straight Fire? Fam, It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight Fire for

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Speaker 1: Monday July. Hope everybody had a phenomenal weekend. Mine was spectacular,

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Speaker 1: utterly spectacular. We'll get to it at a moment. I

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Speaker 1: know you care about hashtag dad life. If you follow

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Speaker 1: me on Instagram, you already know the kind of stuff

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Speaker 1: I'm want to talk about in a second. But first

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Speaker 1: I'm told by producer Rob that I need to probably

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Speaker 1: open with Rory McElroy getting beat by a guy with

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Speaker 1: a mullet at the British Open a K eight the

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Speaker 1: Open over the weekend. I'm sorry. I did not see

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Speaker 1: one shot it did not bet on it. I know

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Speaker 1: that makes me a bad person right as a gambler,

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Like summer, you gotta take time off. Who

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Speaker 1: can gamble all the freaking time like I just I

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Speaker 1: don't know how you can do that and have a

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Speaker 1: life and have a wife and have two kids and

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Speaker 1: try to be as active as I am. Uh sorry,

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry I didn't watch you open. I did watch

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Speaker 1: all the lebron highlights and we will talk about it

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Speaker 1: in depth. Who our with our guest Mark Medina, He's back.

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Speaker 1: He was in the building, as they say, for the

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Speaker 1: Drew League where Lebron showed up and Kyrie Irving was

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Speaker 1: supposed to Yeah, we're gonna go there. Sorry, I know

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Speaker 1: you guys are sticking me bashing Kyrie Irving. I'm sorry.

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Speaker 1: What can I say? I hosted the Herd Radio UH

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Speaker 1: Show with Chris Bouchard on Friday, and man, I guess

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Speaker 1: the HERD audience. I thought I was too harsh on

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Speaker 1: Kyrie and really coming after me. You guys are upset listen.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, what can I say. I'm just I'm out

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Speaker 1: on the guy. Prove it. Prove it, Kyrie that you

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Speaker 1: want to be a team player and a winner and

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Speaker 1: you want to commit to playing basketball instead of all

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Speaker 1: this ancillary side stuff. Prove it. That's all you gotta do. Uh.

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Speaker 1: In other news, for my southern California friends who listen

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Speaker 1: to the podcast, I need to give a shout out

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Speaker 1: to this place called Wild Rivers, a new water park

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Speaker 1: that just opened. We my wife, who basically doesn't great

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Speaker 1: job at finding cool stuff to do because she's, you know,

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Speaker 1: savvy with that Internet. She she knows how to kind

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Speaker 1: of navigate it and find the best things out there

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Speaker 1: in this water park open like two weeks ago, a

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Speaker 1: soft opening, and it's not even fully complete, like two

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Speaker 1: of the rides were not or one or two of

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Speaker 1: the rides were not open, and we were able to go.

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Speaker 1: It was not overly packed. It was not like a

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Speaker 1: CD crowd. You know sometimes water parks that you serve

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Speaker 1: alcohol and people are liquored up and by three o'clock

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Speaker 1: there's fights and expletives. None of that stuff. It was.

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Speaker 1: It was awesome. Made a little video with my daughters,

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Speaker 1: teaching her how to create videos online, and it was

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Speaker 1: just an awesome time. And you know, I tried to

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Speaker 1: heal up for Sunday's basketball game that the showdown of

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Speaker 1: the top two teams in the Dad League. I know,

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Speaker 1: you guys are thrilled hearing about this. And it was

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Speaker 1: a team we beat by thirty earlier this year, but

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Speaker 1: they didn't have their other guard and one other good player,

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Speaker 1: so we didn't think like, oh, we won by thirty.

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Speaker 1: But problem is, we had a bunch of guys injured

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Speaker 1: and out this week and I, of course, you know,

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Speaker 1: busted my eye open this week again and the wife

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Speaker 1: was like, you know, why don't you just take it

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Speaker 1: easy for a little while. And the doctor was like

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Speaker 1: or the plastic surgeon guy who said, you don't need

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Speaker 1: such as this time, but take it easy for a

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Speaker 1: little while. I was like, all right, I'll take a

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Speaker 1: few days off. But then we had a guy bow out.

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Speaker 1: We can't just have five, so we only had six,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, all right, I'm not gonna start.

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna play a lot. You know, I've still

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Speaker 1: got a bit of a shiner. I did the Herd

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Speaker 1: last week with Cowherd for two days and you know,

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Speaker 1: a black eye on TV, you couldn't really tell um,

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Speaker 1: but you don't want to get it busted open again,

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Speaker 1: So I did. I didn't. I went and not wanting

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Speaker 1: to play a lot, and we opened the game destroying

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Speaker 1: this team thirty to ten. We're up like fifteen at

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Speaker 1: the half and then second half like three minutes in.

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Speaker 1: This dude, you know, their second best player. You know

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Speaker 1: they're getting frustrated because we have two big Dane Chris,

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Speaker 1: I've talked about him, the former Notre Dame quarterback is

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Speaker 1: on our team. He's just he's just dominant. And we

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Speaker 1: had this other guy, this guy who played briefly in

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Speaker 1: Germany six five. He's just he's awesome talent, nice guy

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Speaker 1: to Um Michael. And so they're getting frustrated, and this

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Speaker 1: is happening like every week. Guys are like coming at us.

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Speaker 1: So a guy who's filling in for us because we

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Speaker 1: didn't have enough dudes. Um one of my buddies who's

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Speaker 1: a really good basketball player, point guard, he Dane passes

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Speaker 1: out of a triple team for this guy to get

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Speaker 1: an easy layup, and one of their players comes on

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Speaker 1: and does the Zaza Pachulia you know how he sticks

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Speaker 1: his foot under to Kawhi Leonard. Remember that this guy

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Speaker 1: comes in. It's like a wide open lip and he

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Speaker 1: just gets right in the guy's landing spot and he

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Speaker 1: turns his ankle and he comes out. I'm like, dude,

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Speaker 1: justin you good. He's like, I don't know. Like a

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Speaker 1: minute later, I was like, you're ready to come in.

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Speaker 1: He's like, I'm done. So we only had five guys

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Speaker 1: with the final fifteen minutes. Of course, the other team

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Speaker 1: makes a furious come back. We're worn down. You know,

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Speaker 1: we're old dad's are all in our thirties and forties,

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Speaker 1: and then you know They've got their young kid who's

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Speaker 1: like twenty three years old, thinks he's amazing. He's talented,

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Speaker 1: but he doesn't know how to play basketball, you know,

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Speaker 1: setting screens, talking um. He I face guarded their second

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Speaker 1: best player, denied him the ball, and then they're hot

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Speaker 1: Dog would basically just come down and do like some

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Speaker 1: James Harden's side step three, you know, and like, sure,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna make two or three of those, but you're

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Speaker 1: also gonna miss like ten of them. And he just

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Speaker 1: did a bunch of nonsense and we ended up winning

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Speaker 1: by like six or seven. Good game. And you know,

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Speaker 1: one of their nice guys that I've talked to throughout

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Speaker 1: the season because he comes to like the other games,

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Speaker 1: and scouts' is like, oh, we'll see you in the championship.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, dude, we didn't have half our team. I

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Speaker 1: didn't want to say you're dead, but as long as

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Speaker 1: the rest of our guys show, we will win the championship.

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Speaker 1: And and and again, I know you want to get

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Speaker 1: to Mark Badina. Just one quick thing. Why I'm so

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Speaker 1: into this is my buddy, a buddy of mine who

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Speaker 1: I grew up with, went to Notre Dame and played soccer.

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Speaker 1: He was like captain of the soccer team. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he's awesome player. His son is a big time talent.

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Speaker 1: He is playing for uh the Philadelphia Union Academy team.

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Speaker 1: He's playing up like, I mean, this guy's he's gonna

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Speaker 1: be something. I don't know if he's a U S

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Speaker 1: national team member, but he'll be in the pool for sure. Anyways,

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Speaker 1: So my buddy joins the soccer league outside outside Philadelphia,

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Speaker 1: you know, like ten years ago, and he played a

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Speaker 1: Notre Dame, so obviously he knows like good soccer players.

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Speaker 1: So they start a team and win the championship, and

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Speaker 1: win the championship, and he tells me, like, we we

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Speaker 1: started a dynasty and they they won every year but one,

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Speaker 1: and they're like just reloading every year the way Alabama

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Speaker 1: football does. And we're gonna build that in this league.

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Speaker 1: I'm just telling you right now, I don't know if

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Speaker 1: any of the other guys in the league listen. We

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Speaker 1: got like ten other dudes who are itching to play,

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Speaker 1: and we'll just get a team together and we're gonna

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Speaker 1: win this every year. And it's not like we got

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Speaker 1: any young guys. I don't think we have any guys

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Speaker 1: under thirty five, and if we need to, we'll recruit

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Speaker 1: under thirty five. But I like the idea of building

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Speaker 1: a dynasty, even if even if I'm not. And I

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Speaker 1: had a bad game Sunday, you know, I went in

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Speaker 1: not wanting contact. I didn't want the eye to get hit,

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Speaker 1: so I like stayed out of the lane to do it.

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Speaker 1: I didn't even gets like four shots, missed them all,

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Speaker 1: just playing defense and passing the ball to our bigs

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Speaker 1: and let him go to work. Um. But I just, folks,

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Speaker 1: I love basketball. I'm sorry. I just love playing it.

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Speaker 1: Like you. Some I tell me they like to run,

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Speaker 1: you know, and I'm like, okay. So I went through

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Speaker 1: a running phase during COVID when like everything was locked down.

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Speaker 1: Running was fine, but you're like running against yourself. It's

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Speaker 1: not exciting to me. I like competing with other people. Um,

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Speaker 1: and we were when we let these guys thirty to ten.

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Speaker 1: Uh Dane had an awesome block and then we hit

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Speaker 1: ahead to the guy Michael are probably our best overall player.

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Speaker 1: And then he lays it up in and one and

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Speaker 1: I just yell ah, and our tea was so fired up.

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Speaker 1: And I know this sounds super nerdy with guys, it's fun. Listen.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to get to philosophically. You've got one life.

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Speaker 1: You gotta have fun, enjoy it. You gotta have as

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Speaker 1: much fun as you can. And I'm telling you right

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Speaker 1: now I will have as much fun as humanly possible.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's get to our guest. He is Mark Medina,

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Speaker 1: NBA dot com and he's a Fox Sports Radio NBA insider.

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Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

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Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports

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Speaker 1: Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app

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Speaker 1: search f s are to listen live. Jason likes to

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Speaker 1: think he knows everything when it comes to sports. I

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Speaker 1: know what sports dance want, But for everything he doesn't.

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Speaker 1: He knows a guy who does. Let's just say I

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Speaker 1: know a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's welcome into straight fire a guy you know. Well,

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Speaker 1: he was here recently, but he was so good we

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Speaker 1: got to bring him back. Plus he had a front

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Speaker 1: row seat for Lebron at the Drew League on Saturday.

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Speaker 1: Mark Medina NBA dot com and now Fox Sports Radio

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Speaker 1: NBA Insider, Mark, how good was your Saturday? Huh? Jason.

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Speaker 1: It was. It was a zoo just kind of like

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Speaker 1: what the entire NBA season. I thought, you know, things

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Speaker 1: would settle down after a game back from Las Vegas

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Speaker 1: with Summer League. But you know what, free agency hasn't

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Speaker 1: been resolved in the NBA off season as a whole

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Speaker 1: hasn't been resolved. So it's just the same par for

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Speaker 1: the course, Littlebron James would show up in the Drew League.

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Speaker 1: And also we were all under the impression that Kyrie

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Speaker 1: Irvin would show up, but just like his available with

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Speaker 1: the doulability during the regular season with the Nets. Uh,

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Speaker 1: that's is something that became in question. Yes, yes, you

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Speaker 1: love it. We'll get the Kyrie in sect. But first

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Speaker 1: of all, I want to find out more so when

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Speaker 1: did you first get when this was going down? Um,

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Speaker 1: just talk me through the whole thing, because I read

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Speaker 1: something that the capacity at the gym is like but

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Speaker 1: they were like forty Fred people in there. I just

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Speaker 1: want to know, like how it all came together? Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, how did how did you get in his

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Speaker 1: media all that fun stuff? Yeah? Well, first off, shout

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Speaker 1: out to Chris Sands with Yahoo and David mcmahamen with ESPN.

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Speaker 1: You know, they had reported that Lebron James was playing

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Speaker 1: to play in the Drew League, and you know, David

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Speaker 1: mentioned that Kyrie Urban was confirmed as well, and this

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Speaker 1: came from you know, the Drew Lee commissioner, Gino Smiling.

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Speaker 1: So you know, look, I drove over there. I've been

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Speaker 1: to the Drew League over the years, ever since two

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Speaker 1: thousand eleven when it became basically a hotbed for NBA

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Speaker 1: players to play some hoop during the NBA lockout. But

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Speaker 1: this is a league in Los Angeles that has been

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Speaker 1: around since seineteen seventy three, and it's part of my

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Speaker 1: summer routine of you know, occasionally going every weekend just

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Speaker 1: to check out NBA guys coming in. So I knew

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Speaker 1: the lay of the land. But I also knew that

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Speaker 1: with Lebron James expected in attendance, that it would be

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Speaker 1: a zoo And to your point, um, you know, I

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Speaker 1: talked with Dino Smiley afterwards and he said that people

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Speaker 1: were showing up as early as the as early as

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Speaker 1: six thirty am when the security guards opened the building.

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Speaker 1: Um In told about fans attended the gym's capacity at

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Speaker 1: King Drew High School, so they may have violated some

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Speaker 1: fire codes here, but you know it was all contained,

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Speaker 1: but yeah, it was. It was a festive atmosphere because

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Speaker 1: of Lebron. You know, it really felt like some version

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Speaker 1: of crypto dot com arena with Laker fans going crazy

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Speaker 1: with the site of Lebron James anytime he made it dunk,

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Speaker 1: anytime he made a three. There were so many luminaries

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Speaker 1: as well, with LaVar Ball dapping him up as soon

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Speaker 1: as he took the cord. And then you know guys

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Speaker 1: like Draymond green, Um, Taylan Horton, Tucker Montrese Harrow We're

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Speaker 1: on the sideline and then on the court. You know,

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Speaker 1: Lebron James was playing with Demargot Rosen, So it's almost

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Speaker 1: the ultimate what if if they wound up joining forces

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Speaker 1: last season with the Lakers. An obvious question from a

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Speaker 1: lot of people, Mark, why would Lebron play in this game? Like,

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Speaker 1: I don't know if he's played in Drew since what

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Speaker 1: the lockout was, he hasn't played. Well. I think there's

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Speaker 1: there's a few reasons. Few of them are practical, few

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Speaker 1: of them I think are political. I think the practical

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Speaker 1: I think the practical part is, Look, he's trying to

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Speaker 1: get ready for the season. Uh. He came off of

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Speaker 1: a season where he didn't have a clean bill of health,

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Speaker 1: and so I think that this was his way of

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Speaker 1: testing to see how well he felt. And he looked

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Speaker 1: like the Lebron James that we're all accustomed to seeing. UM.

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Speaker 1: And then I think he also from the political end,

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Speaker 1: I know that you know, the Drew League means a

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Speaker 1: lot to Los Angeles, So for him to be there,

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Speaker 1: I think it was sending a message that there's this

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Speaker 1: you know, devotion to the Lakers this season and possibly

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Speaker 1: moving forward. He's eligible for an extension in August. So

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Speaker 1: I can't help but breathe between the lines. And the

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Speaker 1: other element is that, Um, there was an expectation that

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Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving would show up, and while they were there,

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Speaker 1: weren't plans for them to play in the same game.

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Speaker 1: No doubt there will be so many of those parallels

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Speaker 1: and potential questions. And this wasn't just conjecture. This is

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Speaker 1: what Drulie commissionered. Genie know Smiley was under the impression

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Speaker 1: after talking to Kyrie's reupts that he would wind up

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Speaker 1: playing in a game at eleven am. And time kept

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Speaker 1: passing and he was a no show and there was

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Speaker 1: no explanation on why that happened. So it was kind

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Speaker 1: of a very fitting considering Kyrie's season. Interesting, I didn't

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Speaker 1: put that together the he's an l A guy, and

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Speaker 1: I thought of as you said that Genie Busses tweet

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Speaker 1: about Kobe the greatest Laker, and I wonder, is this

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Speaker 1: was this you think in any way, shape or form

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Speaker 1: a message to Genie buss Hey, by the way, I'm

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Speaker 1: an l A guy too. Look, I'm gonna pack the

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Speaker 1: Drew League. I'm gonna dominate social media of the day.

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Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, that guy you don't want

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Speaker 1: We don't think Kyrie Irving he wants to play with

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Speaker 1: me as well. Yeah, I don't know if the devotion

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Speaker 1: lay was a direct message to Genie boss. I think

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Speaker 1: it was basically a direct message to everyone. But I

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Speaker 1: think that the point about Kyrie, I think that's a

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Speaker 1: direct message to the Lakers organization. And look, you know,

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Speaker 1: speaking of Genie, Bostle is able to chat with her

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Speaker 1: for a pretty lengthy interview in Las Vegas, all on

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Speaker 1: the record for a Q and A about you know,

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Speaker 1: just everything about the season. And I think to Genie's credit.

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Speaker 1: While obviously she can't speak specifics because of the tampering rules. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I asked her a lot of things that

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Speaker 1: you know, people can read between the lines when it

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Speaker 1: leads to major moves. I asked her straight up, do

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Speaker 1: you expect a major move? She says, I want to

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Speaker 1: be surprised with anything. But she made it clear that

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Speaker 1: in her eyes, the work is not done. There's still

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Speaker 1: a lot of work that the front office has to do.

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Speaker 1: And while she expressed her full confidence in Rob Blink

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Speaker 1: and everyone else in basketball operations, it's her exctation that

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Speaker 1: they're going to be aggressive. I even press further about

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Speaker 1: where does she staying on the kind of philosophy of,

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Speaker 1: you know, how do you value draft picks and other

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Speaker 1: assets versus making a major deal? And she brought up

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Speaker 1: the Anthony Davis trade in the sense that the Lakers

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Speaker 1: had to give up a lot to get him, but

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Speaker 1: it was worth the cost because the result in a

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Speaker 1: championship in and I think philosophically, that's what she's looking

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Speaker 1: at here. So I think if you connect the dots,

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Speaker 1: I think she's of the mind that she's pushing the

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Speaker 1: Lakers front office as well to go all in so,

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Speaker 1: it is your vibe that she wants Kyrie, front office

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Speaker 1: wants Kyrie, Lebron wants Kyrie. I do think so. But

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Speaker 1: I think where there's a little bit of mixed feelings

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Speaker 1: of you know, where do you draw the line in

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Speaker 1: terms of how many draft picks are you giving up?

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Speaker 1: I think that the Lakers will be willing to give

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Speaker 1: up with one draft pick. But you know, once you're

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Speaker 1: atting multiple draft picks and you have to take certain

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Speaker 1: players salary back, that's where I think the discussion and

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Speaker 1: gets muddled a little bit. And look, I think I

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Speaker 1: had to be clear of one thing. It's not like

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Speaker 1: the Lakers are incredibly enamored with Kyrie Irving. They do

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Speaker 1: have their own questions as everyone else is about about

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Speaker 1: his availability and his leadership. I think that there's some

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Speaker 1: relative optimism because Lebron James is who he is and

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Speaker 1: he has history with Kyrie, that they can manage that part.

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Speaker 1: But I think that this interesting Kyrie is basically in

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Speaker 1: the context of this failed Lakers season, and you know

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook's fit and so while the Lakers certainly publicly

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Speaker 1: and privately have talked about pay Russ can have a

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Speaker 1: better season because presumably he'll play more than twenty one

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Speaker 1: games with Lebron, James Anthony Davison, he'll look better under

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Speaker 1: Darwin ham than he could under Frank Vogel, and he'll

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Speaker 1: be more willing to buy in with what Darwin wants

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Speaker 1: and what Frank wanted. Um, this is an acknowledgement that

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Speaker 1: there is skepticism about Russ's fit. So I think when

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Speaker 1: you connect all these dots, Jason, it's the equivalent I

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Speaker 1: was talking about Vegas. The Lakers are, uh is the

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Speaker 1: person at the table where they made some you know,

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Speaker 1: gambling missed decisions. They decided to gamble on their house

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Speaker 1: and put it on the table, and they lost it.

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Speaker 1: And the only way to get that back is to

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Speaker 1: put their car up for collateral. So it's not ideal,

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Speaker 1: but it's almost one of those things. Do you really

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Speaker 1: have any other choice? Well, the problem is Mark Is

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Speaker 1: Lebron is the one who forced them to get Russ right.

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Speaker 1: I mean, now, I'm not saying that Boblinka wanted mar

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Speaker 1: DeRos in or whoever, but by all accounts, it was

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Speaker 1: Lebron who was pushing for us. Speaking of so, something

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Speaker 1: went down at Summer League where Lebron went to a

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Speaker 1: game in Vegas, and I don't know all the details.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you do. You know, Russ apparently came in the arena,

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Speaker 1: said hi to everybody and had no contact with Lebron.

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Speaker 1: Is that true? Did this really happen where they didn't

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Speaker 1: make eye contact and they were in the same gym? Yeah? Well, look,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't at Vegas during that time, but the power

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Speaker 1: casts caught all. But they were on opposite sides of

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Speaker 1: the court. There was no tapping up, no exchanges. And

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Speaker 1: look you juxtaposed that to last summer during some or league.

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Speaker 1: They were hanging out there being buddy buddy. They're posting

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Speaker 1: images on their Instagram accounts of their offseason workouts. So

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Speaker 1: this wasn't you know, a coincidence by any means. There

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Speaker 1: are some practical measures here of you know, Russ, even

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Speaker 1: though it's clear that you know, he would be fine

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Speaker 1: with getting dealt here, he's also trying to send the

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Speaker 1: message of aligning himself with Darwin Ham, getting involved with

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Speaker 1: the team huddles and being kind of, uh, this source

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Speaker 1: of encouragement for the summer league. Guys, were you know,

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Speaker 1: Lebron was having a detached mindset, just because I mean,

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Speaker 1: I don't think he was saying a message other than

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Speaker 1: that's usually what star players do. They don't try to

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Speaker 1: get overly involved with the summer league team. So it's

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Speaker 1: almost kind of Russ's efforts to try to be involved

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Speaker 1: even more so. But the reality is they easily could

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Speaker 1: have embraced They easily could have made small talk acknowledge,

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Speaker 1: and that didn't happen whatsoever. Mark, Is it okay to

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Speaker 1: really like Lebron and root forman. I think he's the

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Speaker 1: best player in the history of the league, and to

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Speaker 1: also think these last three weeks has been pretty dirty

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Speaker 1: and ugly towards Russell Westbrook. And I've been a guy

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Speaker 1: bashing Russell said he was a terrible fit and he

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Speaker 1: can't shoot, and blah blah blah. But it just feels

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Speaker 1: a little dirty, Like I can't believe I'm saying this.

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Speaker 1: I feel a little bad for Russell Westbrook the way

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Speaker 1: he's being treated here after they moved Heather and Earth

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Speaker 1: to bring him in last summer. Well. Hi, Look, I

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Speaker 1: think from a big picture standpoint with Lebron, obviously there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of admirable qualities with how he plays the game,

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Speaker 1: his success, what he's done in the community. But you know,

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Speaker 1: there are a lot of elements of him having you know,

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Speaker 1: a lot of politics and ulterior motives. And this is

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Speaker 1: kind of hard for the course, But as far as

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Speaker 1: feeling bad for Russell Westbrook, it's hard for me to

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Speaker 1: lend the sympathy card for him simply because when he

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Speaker 1: wanted to go to the Lakers, he knew what he

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Speaker 1: was signing up for, and he knew from talking to

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Speaker 1: Lebron James, Anthony Davis, the Lakers front office, Lakers coach

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Speaker 1: Frank Vogel, that look, we're going to try to tap

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Speaker 1: into what makes you great as a future Hall of Famer,

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Speaker 1: but there's also going to be sacrifice involved. And Rust

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Speaker 1: did not live up to that, and he didn't take

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Speaker 1: any accountability or show any signs of leadership during the

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Speaker 1: ups and downs last season. And look like from all accounts,

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Speaker 1: uh Russ is a great guy as far as you

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Speaker 1: know what he is to the community, what he is

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Speaker 1: off the court, but from the you know, strict parameters

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Speaker 1: that were evaluating you know, players on the court and

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Speaker 1: their performances, he did not show any semblances of leadership

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Speaker 1: last season. So because of that, it's hard for me

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Speaker 1: to really feign sympathy, especially because you know, after Frank

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Speaker 1: Vogel's firing, he I think, you know, kicked himself a

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Speaker 1: little bit while he was down and acting like Frank

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Speaker 1: didn't embrace him or try to put him in in

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Speaker 1: a position to succeed. And while certainly the Lakers front

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Speaker 1: office thought that Frank Vogel had some shortcomings, I think

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Speaker 1: overstated because the majority of it had to do with

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Speaker 1: injuries and a flaude roster. It's not like Frank was

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Speaker 1: a perfect coach, but I think that he came in

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Speaker 1: with the right intentions in finding ways to make Russ effective,

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Speaker 1: and with exception of bringing him off the bench entirely

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Speaker 1: he spun every single scenario around the wheel, and just

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Speaker 1: with exception for a handful of games, Russ did not

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Speaker 1: play well. And look, you know, twenty one games with

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Speaker 1: Lebron and Lebron and a D doesn't help. But even

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Speaker 1: though in those twenty one games, I didn't see really

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Speaker 1: assurances that this trio would work, and I didn't see

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Speaker 1: a lot of assurances that Russ would be doing his

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Speaker 1: part to try to make it work. So while Lebron

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Speaker 1: isn't ammuted from this criticism from a big picture lens.

426
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:42,040
Speaker 1: And overall, when it pertains to Russell Westbrook, I think

427
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,600
Speaker 1: he only has himself to bloom. Fox Sports Radio has

428
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,560
Speaker 1: the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all

429
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,960
Speaker 1: of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and

430
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,600
Speaker 1: within the I Heart Radio app search f s R

431
00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,720
Speaker 1: to listen live. Al Right, so I largely agree with

432
00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,320
Speaker 1: all of that. I don't know why all of a

433
00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,320
Speaker 1: sudden I have for us, because you're right, no real

434
00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,560
Speaker 1: leadership last season. Mark, But you just said lebron A

435
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,760
Speaker 1: d and Russ games. How many did Joel Embat and

436
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 1: James Harden get. I don't know off the top of

437
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,480
Speaker 1: my head. It's similar number, right, similar number. And everybody's

438
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 1: excited about the potential for them working together. Hey, the

439
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,000
Speaker 1: pick and roll work last year. Wait till they begin

440
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,600
Speaker 1: a full season? Are we not giving? And again I

441
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,240
Speaker 1: have been crushing Russ for how bad he was. I

442
00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,760
Speaker 1: thought he should have come off the bench. But do

443
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,440
Speaker 1: you think that maybe they should get a few more

444
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:37,679
Speaker 1: games together. I don't think so. But I think the

445
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,119
Speaker 1: larger point is that you're making is this isn't just

446
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: Russ's fault. Right, while there are things that he needs

447
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,720
Speaker 1: to take accountability for and fail to do so. Um,

448
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,439
Speaker 1: I think that there's a lot of feelings within the

449
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 1: Lakers that, you know what, Anthony Davis didn't hold up

450
00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:55,479
Speaker 1: his end of the bargain. Wow, maybe that might be

451
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,960
Speaker 1: unfair to him to some degree because he is an

452
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,080
Speaker 1: injury prone player and injuries happened. There is a feeling

453
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,440
Speaker 1: that he hasn't done his part with his training routine

454
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 1: and his preventative work to you know, give himself the

455
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,160
Speaker 1: best odds of having a clean bill of health. When

456
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,680
Speaker 1: you juxtaposed that with Lebron James. Yes, he has. He's

457
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,159
Speaker 1: had his own issues with injury lots. It's lots of it,

458
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,480
Speaker 1: just being the fact that he's entering his twentieth season

459
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,800
Speaker 1: and the injuries that he's had. They were freak injuries,

460
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,240
Speaker 1: but I think that it's taken him longer to come

461
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,399
Speaker 1: back from them. But when he's been on the floor,

462
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,879
Speaker 1: he's been Lebron James, where in Anthony Davis case, a

463
00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,199
Speaker 1: lot of these injuries have taken a lot longer than

464
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 1: anticipate for him to return from and when he is

465
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,320
Speaker 1: on the court, he hasn't been the same player as

466
00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,480
Speaker 1: he was during his first season with the Lakers, where

467
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,200
Speaker 1: he and Lebron James just seemed like this unstoppable one

468
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 1: to duo and particularly in the NBA bubble. You know,

469
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,399
Speaker 1: keep in mind during the NBA Finals, there's actually legitimate

470
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,680
Speaker 1: debate myself included wondering after the first two games, could

471
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis win Finals MVP? He was playing that dominant

472
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,640
Speaker 1: and now granted the rest of the series, Lebron James

473
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,720
Speaker 1: kicked it up an even bigger notch. A D had

474
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,439
Speaker 1: some minor injuries that he had to deal with, but

475
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,919
Speaker 1: he still played a really good series. Fast forward two

476
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,600
Speaker 1: years now, he is not the same aggressive, effective player

477
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 1: that he once was. I think that a D means well,

478
00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 1: I'm sure that he'll try to rectify those things. But

479
00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 1: these last two seasons, even when he account for injuries,

480
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,560
Speaker 1: he has not lived up to the potential he has, uh,

481
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 1: you know, with his amazing talent of being able to

482
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,439
Speaker 1: be this dominant big man, this guy that could shoot

483
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 1: outside and be one of the best defenders in the NBA.

484
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,880
Speaker 1: One more Lakers question mark. Robert Ory has a podcast

485
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,960
Speaker 1: and his host had said to him last week, Hey, so,

486
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,600
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant on the market. If you're the Lakers, do

487
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,879
Speaker 1: you trade Lebron for Kevin Durant? And Robert Uri was like,

488
00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: of course you do, no doubt, no questions asked. And

489
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,399
Speaker 1: it's interesting because I hadn't given it much thought and

490
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,200
Speaker 1: I can't see the world where the Lakers do that.

491
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:12,040
Speaker 1: But Kevin Durant is, I believe, almost four years younger,

492
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,639
Speaker 1: and he's locked in for four more years, whereas Lebron

493
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 1: we know in two years he's leaving to play with

494
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,280
Speaker 1: his son wherever his son goes. So I don't know.

495
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,240
Speaker 1: I know it's left field. It seems like a pie

496
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,880
Speaker 1: in this guy probably not gonna happen. That being said,

497
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 1: I gotta ask, what do you think Kevin duran for Lebron?

498
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,399
Speaker 1: Do you think there's anything there? Would you do it?

499
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,679
Speaker 1: If you were the Lakers, I would do it. The

500
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,359
Speaker 1: only pause I would have with making that deal is

501
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 1: while obviously Lebron James is a lot older, I think that,

502
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,199
Speaker 1: for example, he's more equipped to hold someone like Kyrie

503
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,399
Speaker 1: Irving accountable, where obviously with Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie you know,

504
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,880
Speaker 1: really enabled, Kevin really enabled whatever Kyrie wanted to do.

505
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,879
Speaker 1: Their body buddy is that's fine, and this isn't a

506
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,439
Speaker 1: knock on Kevin. I think that he's been an amazing player.

507
00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,280
Speaker 1: He's very available, but you know, he'll be the first

508
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,240
Speaker 1: to admit that his leadership style is more by example

509
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,919
Speaker 1: and he doesn't try to flex his influence in the

510
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 1: locker room. He just is a guy that punches in,

511
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,440
Speaker 1: punches out. But I think when it comes to Kyrie,

512
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 1: you need someone like Lebron who you know will hold

513
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 1: him accountable. But I think from a talent standpoint, no doubt.

514
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 1: But that being said, I don't think the Nets would

515
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,520
Speaker 1: accept that trade. I think that they've been asking for

516
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,480
Speaker 1: a lot more assets than just Lebron James straight up.

517
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,200
Speaker 1: So I think that's where this whole idea of Kevin

518
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,920
Speaker 1: ever getting to the Lakers. It's just a nonstarter that

519
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,680
Speaker 1: the negotiations that they've had, you know, substantially have obviously

520
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 1: been involving Kyrie or you know what it would take

521
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,600
Speaker 1: with that, and that's been complicated enough. Lebron would hate

522
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,800
Speaker 1: that too, but that would not be committed to a

523
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,480
Speaker 1: long Lebron future. All right, let's quickly wrap up Mark

524
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 1: with Donovan Mitchell and the impending trade that saw a

525
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 1: funny headline that Donovan Mitchell his asking price is New

526
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: York wants everything short of the Statue of Liberty. You

527
00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,919
Speaker 1: can be funding to the deal. Um, listen. I like

528
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,719
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell. He's had some good playoff experiences. He's been

529
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 1: a leader on the Jazz. I also think he has

530
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: zero All NBA nods. Now, I know the guard situation

531
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 1: is tough in the league, but if you're not All NBA,

532
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:24,200
Speaker 1: are you a top fifteen players? Like? So, now we're

533
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,840
Speaker 1: talking about five or six first round picks plus I

534
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 1: don't know Grimes and whoever quickly whatever for a guy

535
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 1: who's never been All NBA and has been an All

536
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,040
Speaker 1: Star three times. Uh, it seems like a lot on

537
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 1: the surface. But I don't know. If you're the Nicks,

538
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 1: you're desperate, you probably end up doing five first round

539
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 1: picks for Mitchell. Right. Yeah, it's tough because remember the

540
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:49,160
Speaker 1: Knicks went down this road about eleven years ago where

541
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,000
Speaker 1: they got Carmelo Anthony. But to get Carmelo Anthony, they

542
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 1: basically got the roster. And while there was some success

543
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:57,760
Speaker 1: that Carmelo Anthony had with the Knicks with a few

544
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,640
Speaker 1: play appearances, when he first got there. They don't really

545
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 1: have much of a supporting cast here. I think the

546
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,280
Speaker 1: Knicks they're better well run now it's much different management,

547
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: but it is owned by James Stolean still. But that

548
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 1: being said, I think that there is a tough line

549
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,159
Speaker 1: to draw because I think that philosophically, the Nicks should

550
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,439
Speaker 1: try to get Donovan Mitchell. I think that's ultimately what

551
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: will happen. But keep in mind, this is Danny Ainge

552
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,040
Speaker 1: that we're talking about. He extracted so much value in

553
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,639
Speaker 1: that trade UH to UH deal Rudy Golbert to the

554
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves that he's going to be trying to do

555
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 1: the same thing, if not more. And this is in

556
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,640
Speaker 1: line with what he did with the Boston Celtics when

557
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,679
Speaker 1: he broke up those veterans. He wound up collecting so

558
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,320
Speaker 1: many draft picks that wound up setting the Celtics up

559
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,520
Speaker 1: to where they are now. That resulted in Jason Tatum

560
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,960
Speaker 1: and Jalen Brown. So I don't know exactly where the

561
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 1: line the Nicks need to cross, but they have to

562
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 1: keep in mind this thing. It's not just about how

563
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 1: great Donovan Mitchell could be on that team, presumably with

564
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson, But who are the players that they're gonna

565
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: uh that he's gonna be pairing up with, Because if

566
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,520
Speaker 1: it's just those two guys and a bunch of random

567
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 1: role players, you're repeating the mistakes of the Mellow trade.

568
00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 1: You have line somewhere it looks like the Jazz don't

569
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 1: want R. J. Barrett or or aren't demanding him, and

570
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,920
Speaker 1: then I don't think they want Randall and his salaries.

571
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,040
Speaker 1: So so now you're looking at okay, well Brunson, Mitchell,

572
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 1: Barrett and Randall. I mean that's similar to like a

573
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 1: Dame and C J thing in the West a few

574
00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,200
Speaker 1: years back that had you know, five or six playoff appearances,

575
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,119
Speaker 1: one run to the conference finals. Like, that's a pretty

576
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 1: good nucleus. If you're the Knicks in the East, I

577
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 1: mean you're certainly top six. Yeah, yeah, look, I think

578
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,880
Speaker 1: that's that that would certainly be a great UH roster commendation.

579
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: And look, the Portland Trail Baizers had some shortcomings, but

580
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 1: I think one of the underrated parts of that time

581
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 1: with Damian Lillward and J. J. McCollum is that there

582
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 1: are I think one of only six teams that made

583
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 1: so many consecutive playoff appearances. They did get to the

584
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals into one nineteen. They got swept by

585
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors, even although they didn't have Kevin Durant.

586
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:08,160
Speaker 1: But look compared to the next you know before, where

587
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: they've always been dysfunctional and all that. Having consistent playoff

588
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,120
Speaker 1: appearances is a net success and if then if you

589
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:18,800
Speaker 1: can build off of that, worry about that later. But

590
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,960
Speaker 1: you have to talk about what has been happening recently,

591
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 1: and what's been happening recently is they underachieved this season.

592
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 1: They thought they finally turned the corner after making the

593
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,680
Speaker 1: playoffs last season. Now looks like they're stuck in mud.

594
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 1: And this is a move that would help propel them

595
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 1: to that next tier. They're not going to be the

596
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 1: ultimate elite tier, but you have to have a starting

597
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,280
Speaker 1: point somewhere. Yeah, And a lot of people would be like, well,

598
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,360
Speaker 1: wait to say, you're not winning a championship with Mitchell

599
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,880
Speaker 1: and Bruns into small guards and Barrett and Reyntals. Okay, fine,

600
00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 1: but how about a playoff series? I mark this century

601
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 1: as I know, I'm an extent. They have one playoff

602
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 1: series win with Carmelo. That's it. Yeah, that's all. That's nothing, yea,

603
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,280
Speaker 1: make the play and tournament, make the playoffs. To win

604
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 1: a first round series and get from there. You have

605
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 1: to always get invited into the dance first, and people

606
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: forget like things happen in the playoffs, like injuries that like,

607
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 1: I mean, you saw the Warriors this year, they got

608
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:10,880
Speaker 1: a little Look, I mean John Moran goes down in

609
00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:13,920
Speaker 1: the middle of the series. You know, uh Sons choke,

610
00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,680
Speaker 1: Chris Paul vanishes, Like things happen, things break your way,

611
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,600
Speaker 1: like just you gotta get to the playoffs, right, Markent.

612
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 1: Once the playoffs start, like I don't want to say

613
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,720
Speaker 1: it's a blank slate, but there's so many extenuating circumstances

614
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 1: and timing issues that at that point, you know, really

615
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 1: anything can happen. UF. I will wrap up with um

616
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and I I thought last week that maybe

617
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 1: he wouldn't go anywhere, and it's starting to look like

618
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: maybe he doesn't. But if this Kyrie Russ thing happens,

619
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,280
Speaker 1: would they definitely still not trade? Katie, I don't know

620
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 1: what's your vibe? And Kevin Durant here mid July. Yeah, look,

621
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,520
Speaker 1: when I was in Vegas, you know, the handful of

622
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:57,120
Speaker 1: coaches I and executives I talked to had mixed feelings.

623
00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 1: On one hand, they felt like, you know what, in

624
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 1: a few hours a deal could happen, and then in

625
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 1: the same breath are like, but you know, there might

626
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 1: not be a resolution just before training camp starts. So

627
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 1: it's really that unpredictable, and it's that on an unsettling UH.

628
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 1: To answer a question about the Russ, there's no way

629
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 1: that the Nets would have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook

630
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,640
Speaker 1: as teammates. So I think if if that Kyrie Irving

631
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 1: trade goes through, that's a sign that Kevin Durant's the

632
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,760
Speaker 1: first domino or vice versa. There's some feelings that they're

633
00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,080
Speaker 1: going to handle the Kevin Durant trade first, because you know,

634
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 1: that's more complicated and Kyrie's market has frankly just been

635
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 1: the Lakers. But yeah, we're not gonna see a Katie

636
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:40,040
Speaker 1: Rouss reunion when you're looking at last week's development. The

637
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 1: other wrinkle that kind of complicates us is the DeAndrea

638
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:46,160
Speaker 1: Aton free agency decision, with you know the fact that

639
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Stuns decide to match that restricted offer UH

640
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 1: from the Indiana Pacers. You know, from a from a

641
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 1: least rule standpoint, they can now not trade them entail January.

642
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,520
Speaker 1: So that complicates a lot of other things because there

643
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 1: was a feeling that DeAndre Ayton in some way, shape

644
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,720
Speaker 1: or form wouldn't be involved with a Kevin Durant trade.

645
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 1: Wouldn't Maybe it wouldn't be a team for team swap,

646
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,360
Speaker 1: but it would involve a third or fourth team. And

647
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: now that that domino is settled, who knows what the

648
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,760
Speaker 1: next dominoes that could be related. Maybe it's the Donovan

649
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,440
Speaker 1: Mitchell deal where this is all tied together, but we'll see.

650
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:28,080
Speaker 1: It's it's been a pretty unpredictable off season to say

651
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:30,520
Speaker 1: the least. All right, Mark, thanks for taking the time.

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00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,920
Speaker 1: Glad you survived the Lebron Drew League experience. I'm sure

653
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,760
Speaker 1: we'll talk to you to Buddy Jason. Appreciate you as always,