Speaker 1: Welcome to the best of the week for What's Right
Speaker 1: with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
Speaker 1: week on the show Enjoy Soul.
Speaker 2: Lebron opted into his fifty two million dollar contract, and
Speaker 2: then came the trade rumors. Rich Paul came out with
Speaker 2: a statement and said, Lebron knows the Lakers are building
Speaker 2: for the future. He understands that, but he values a
Speaker 2: realistic chance of winning it all. You thought they were
Speaker 2: going to come away with a sinner. They ended up
Speaker 2: hitting DeAndre Hayton, who was a sinner. Yeah, but something
Speaker 2: about this whole process.
Speaker 1: Has been peeing you off. Do you care to share
Speaker 1: with the Audien? Yes? So, I have just been mystified
Speaker 1: at the combination of misinformation, disingenuous commentary, and almost huffing
Speaker 1: and puffing from the media, Like, ah, I guess we're
Speaker 1: four first to talk about Lebron again. What the fuck
Speaker 1: else has happened in free agency? The Kevin Durant trade
Speaker 1: that all of us knew was coming, that we that
Speaker 1: we talked about. That that was awesome, that was exciting.
Speaker 1: Other than that, it's been the deadest free agent agency imaginable.
Speaker 1: One team at cap space. It was the nets. They
Speaker 1: they decided to use it just to take other teams
Speaker 1: bad contracts. Sham's was telling us a month ago this
Speaker 1: could be the craziest offseason ever. Nothing's happened other than
Speaker 1: the Durant move. The most notable move is Norman Powell
Speaker 1: getting traded to Miami. Norman Powell, who, by the way,
Speaker 1: oddly enough, the only time Norman Powell's been discussed on
Speaker 1: regularly on podcasts and TV shows aside from once focused
Speaker 1: on the Clippers was a different Lebron James thing when
Speaker 1: people were like, oh, what did anyone think of Norman
Speaker 1: Powe and his all Star spot? If Lebron knew he
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna play and so but but I'm listening to
Speaker 1: and reading folks basically be like, all right, I guess
Speaker 1: will feed the content and engagement monster and have the boring,
Speaker 1: tired discussion of could Lebron James be traded? You mean
Speaker 1: the greatest player of all time? Or you know what?
Speaker 1: Do not argue with, folks, the at worst second greatest
Speaker 1: player of all time who's never been traded, who is
Speaker 1: open now potentially to being traded. That's a boring discussion.
Speaker 1: We'd rather talk about the Pacers losing Miles Turner because
Speaker 1: they don't want to pay the tax because Halliburton got hurt.
Speaker 1: That's what we'd rather talk about, Cam Whitmore for two
Speaker 1: second round picks, Like what are we doing? This is
Speaker 1: and it's not lost on me today, this very moment
Speaker 1: is the fifteen year anniversary. I didn't know that until
Speaker 1: I saw an article wading about it this morning. Today's
Speaker 1: the fifteen year anniversary of the decision, which means we've
Speaker 1: had fifteen years of enhanced more, round the clock, more,
Speaker 1: twelve month a year, three hundred and sixty five day
Speaker 1: NBA transaction interest, from player empowerment, to the owners trying
Speaker 1: to rustle it back, super Team's homegrown, all of it.
Speaker 1: It came because Lebron and Maverick put together a TV
Speaker 1: show and changed the whole paradigm. And fifteen years later,
Speaker 1: he's still one of, if not the most interesting person
Speaker 1: in the league, and folks who cover the league for
Speaker 1: a living seem almost resentful that this is a story.
Speaker 1: So I don't understand that. But that's I guess a
Speaker 1: matter of taste. That's a personal preference, so be it.
Speaker 1: But then there is what I considered the outright misinformation
Speaker 1: might be too strong, especially in today's climate, but just
Speaker 1: misleading and incorrect. I guess opinions on Lebron's money and
Speaker 1: Lebron's value and Lebron's impact on winning, because here's what
Speaker 1: I know. Last year we played, we had an offseason.
Speaker 1: By the way, we're in the Olympics. They had a
Speaker 1: whole All the best players in the world came together
Speaker 1: in Paris to play a basketball tournament, and then they
Speaker 1: voted on who was the most Valuable player in that tournament,
Speaker 1: and it was Lebron James. Now, I argue you could
Speaker 1: have gone co MVPs because Lebron carried the team up
Speaker 1: until the final, and then Steph was so utterly brilliant
Speaker 1: in the semifinal and the final. If you want to
Speaker 1: split the baby, so be it. That's fine. But he
Speaker 1: won the MVP of that. Then this year, we had
Speaker 1: a whole NBA season, and then the entirety of basketball
Speaker 1: media voted on awards, and after this season, if your
Speaker 1: name was not Shay Gilgess, Alexander nikola Jokic, Giannis Antena Koumpo,
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, or Donovan Mitchell, basketball media said you were
Speaker 1: not as valuable as Lebron James. Those are the five
Speaker 1: guys that finished higher on MVP voting. Those are the
Speaker 1: five guys who received more First Team All NBA votes.
Speaker 1: That's the entire list, Not Steph, not Kawhi, not Durant,
Speaker 1: not who's the younger guys that I'm leaving out, not Kid,
Speaker 1: not Halliburton in the regular season. He obviously came on
Speaker 1: huge in the postseason. None of those guys we had
Speaker 1: an awards. We had a season sixth most First Team
Speaker 1: All NBA votes, sixth most, sixth in the MVP voting.
Speaker 1: And the reason I bring that up is then the
Speaker 1: discussion around Lebron James being the thirteenth highest paid player was, well,
Speaker 1: doesn't Lebron understand that a huge impediment to winning is
Speaker 1: his salary? In what world? In what world is the
Speaker 1: league's I don't know all be conservative eighth best player
Speaker 1: being the thirteenth highest paid player an impediment to winning.
Speaker 1: We just saw the Golden State Warriors trade for and
Speaker 1: then extend Jimmy Butler, and the narrative surrounding that is
Speaker 1: that open steps championship window. Jimmy Butler makes more money
Speaker 1: than Lebron and is worse than Lebron. They say it again,
Speaker 1: but no, I'm talking about the right now, the right now,
Speaker 1: because by the way, I would bet Lebron's got as
Speaker 1: many all NBA caliber seasons, more All NBA caliber seasons
Speaker 1: left in him than Jimmy Butler does. Jimmy Butler's done
Speaker 1: being an All NBA player. Lebron was last year, and
Speaker 1: Steph and Lebron probably have about the same amount of
Speaker 1: seasons left, give or take. And I'm talking about the
Speaker 1: here and the now. People thought that the Warriors made
Speaker 1: a great move giving Jimmy Butler that money, and it's
Speaker 1: a touch more than Lebron makes, and he's a worse player,
Speaker 1: great player, but a worst player. He like, in what
Speaker 1: universe is Lebron James making less than Karl Anthony Towns
Speaker 1: and the same as Paul George a bad contract, not
Speaker 1: a world where he was second team All NBA and
Speaker 1: sixth in MVP voting. So there's that piece of it
Speaker 1: that if you're the seventh or eighth best player in
Speaker 1: the sport and you're the thirteenth highest paid player in
Speaker 1: the sport, you're on a bargain contract, then there was
Speaker 1: this piece of it, Well, if he was really focused
Speaker 1: on winning, he should have taken less to help the Lakers.
Speaker 1: And that was that is a understandable opinion by fans
Speaker 1: and a just abhorrent job by the media in perpetuating
Speaker 1: that because Ron James, if he had cut his salary
Speaker 1: demons from fifty if he had opted out of the
Speaker 1: fifty two and said, you know what, I'll play for twiny,
Speaker 1: you know how much cap space that opens up for
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Lakers zero dollars, not a penny, because
Speaker 1: they're that far over the cap already. If Lebron James
Speaker 1: had said I'll go from fifty two million to the
Speaker 1: league minimum, it would have opened up roughly ten million
Speaker 1: dollars in cap space for the Lakers. Ten million bucks.
Speaker 1: So this idea that the Lakers could have been these
Speaker 1: major players in free agency if Lebron had simply taken
Speaker 1: a discount is belied by just the facts. And it's
Speaker 1: also it's also, and we all know this is true,
Speaker 1: a disingenuous to discussion because had Lebron, let's say Lebron
Speaker 1: opted out and said, I'm going to be a free
Speaker 1: agent and guess what, guys, I'm going to play for
Speaker 1: the minimum, the entire conversation would be about stacking the deck, unfair,
Speaker 1: faking like that. So there was him simply saying, I
Speaker 1: don't know, I'm the thirteenth ice paid guy in the league.
Speaker 1: I'm probably pretty underpaid. And that's even before you consider
Speaker 1: all of the off court stuff that I bring to
Speaker 1: the table. So yeah, I'll just play for my fifty
Speaker 1: million is more than totally reasonable? Was there?
Speaker 2: Like, so you have to but he opted into the contract,
Speaker 2: Like what would his other options have been?
Speaker 1: He could have opted out and been a free agent.
Speaker 1: He could have opted out and been a free agent
Speaker 1: and signed anywhere for the literally any where for the
Speaker 1: league minimum and leave fifty million on the table or
Speaker 1: a lot of places for the mid level, which is
Speaker 1: about fourteen million bucks. And the only team that could
Speaker 1: have signed him for more than fourteen million dollars would
Speaker 1: have been the Nets, which would have made no sense.
Speaker 1: So those were go ahead? And why did he not
Speaker 1: do that?
Speaker 2: Are you saying, like because he thought the Lakers were
Speaker 2: going to do a better job with secure in a
Speaker 2: better SAE.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I mean I think it's a I don't
Speaker 1: think there is a perfect solution here for you know what,
Speaker 1: they're trying to accomplish all these things. And I'm a
Speaker 1: big believer of you can't have everything you want in life,
Speaker 1: and sometimes, like you, you know, you have to make
Speaker 1: trade offs. I'm not sitting here arguing that the Lakers
Speaker 1: owe him something more than they owe Luca, which is
Speaker 1: to try to win a damn chancepion chip this season.
Speaker 1: And I'll get to the Lakers piece of it in
Speaker 1: a minute. I'm not saying that there is a perfect
Speaker 1: solution for what he's trying to accomplish. What I'm saying
Speaker 1: is the narrative that a huge impediment to winning is
Speaker 1: you know, when you pay a player way more than
Speaker 1: he's worth, that's gonna hurt you. Like the example of
Speaker 1: people use is you know, Kobe at the end when
Speaker 1: Lebron was, according to NBA voters, which I am not,
Speaker 1: was the sixth best player in the league last year.
Speaker 1: So that part is to me just erroneous. Then there
Speaker 1: is the Okay, you've made over a billion dollars, you
Speaker 1: want the Lakers to be more competitive, take less money
Speaker 1: Dirk style and give them flexibility. When you look at
Speaker 1: it that him taking less money would not have given
Speaker 1: them any flexibility. And then there is this other part
Speaker 1: of it which I mentioned on TV yesterday, and it
Speaker 1: was the way it was captioned made it seem like
Speaker 1: more of a shot at Durant than I wanted it
Speaker 1: to be. But I said what I said, which was
Speaker 1: and this is the part to me demans that I
Speaker 1: find no one can explain this to me correctly, nobody.
Speaker 1: Do who do you think right right now this moment,
Speaker 1: And there's no wrong answer here to monse because you
Speaker 1: might disagree with me. Who do you think right now
Speaker 1: this moment is better Durant or Lebron? And do you
Speaker 1: think it's close in either direction?
Speaker 2: Offensively, I'd say Kevin Durant. But as far as who's
Speaker 2: a better player, the better players just yeah, better all around.
Speaker 1: I'd have to give it to Lebron. But it's either way,
Speaker 1: it's pretty close, probably, right, yeah, exactly, like the like
Speaker 1: if one guy's the eighth best player in the league,
Speaker 1: the other guy's the tenth best player in the league
Speaker 1: or nine to twelve or whatever. Right, So I and
Speaker 1: despite the age, I think we can agree that Lebron
Speaker 1: is the more durable player has been Like you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Lebron is less likely to miss thirty
Speaker 1: games with an injury. That's just that's not a matter
Speaker 1: of opinion. We just we just know it. Okay. So
Speaker 1: here's what I don't understand. Kevin Durant was available for trade,
Speaker 1: and the media lost its mind. Who should go after him?
Speaker 1: These are the teams Rant doesn't want, the Minnesota Should
Speaker 1: Minnesota trade for him? Anyway? If you trade for him,
Speaker 1: do you just do you want to just give him
Speaker 1: a contract? The Rockets were the two seed, gave up
Speaker 1: their leading scorer, a valuable defender who I don't like
Speaker 1: in Dylan Brooks, and the tenth pick of the draft,
Speaker 1: and everyone's reaction was like, what a great job by
Speaker 1: the Rockets. They might win the title. A guy who
Speaker 1: at the very least is as good as Durant and
Speaker 1: I think a touch better is available potentially, and the
Speaker 1: same media is like, who fucking want him? I mean, really,
Speaker 1: it doesn't make any sense. That's what I don't understand.
Speaker 1: Like last year, last year, Lebron was better than Steph.
Speaker 1: They are similar, and Lebron's older, but again like the
Speaker 1: kind of similar port places in their career. Steps team
Speaker 1: was in twenty four and twenty five when they traded
Speaker 1: for Jimmy Butler, you felt like it made them contenders.
Speaker 1: They lost to the Timberwolves and five in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Lebron's team was hanging on to the three four seed.
Speaker 1: They trade for Luca you felt like it made them contenders.
Speaker 1: They lost to the Timberwolves and five in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: That's like they had after very similar Olympics, very similar seasons.
Speaker 1: They Lebron finished hire an MVP and all NBA voting,
Speaker 1: But it was very close. Right If Steph Curry had
Speaker 1: released a statement like I don't know about the future
Speaker 1: of the Warriors and people thought he might be available,
Speaker 1: it would be a full stop freakout about what teams
Speaker 1: should package, what things to try to get him. And
Speaker 1: we just saw it happened with Durant when last year
Speaker 1: Lebron was better than both those guys, and the collective
Speaker 1: reaction is well, I guess maybe maybe a team or
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Speaker 1: So Aiden is.
Speaker 2: Getting settled in in La, getting all comfy and all that.
Speaker 2: Luca sent him a welcome message, you know, welcome to
Speaker 2: La DeAndre. Aiden decided to play with you next year.
Speaker 2: Lebron James not said anything to him though. Is there
Speaker 2: something to read into here?
Speaker 1: It's not nothing? Yeah, uh so this DeAndre did this
Speaker 1: interview two days ago, I think one whatever it was,
Speaker 1: the interview that he did, we played a piece of
Speaker 1: on the TV show yesterday, and we did not play
Speaker 1: this piece because it was a radio interview in La
Speaker 1: and I, you know, I had I didn't know that
Speaker 1: this was said. So credit to whomever clipped this and
Speaker 1: you know, posted it, because I didn't. I hadn't listened
Speaker 1: to the full fifteen minute or whatever radio interview it was,
Speaker 1: and so I had only seen kind of what had
Speaker 1: made mainstream, so to speak. But I saw this and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, well, that's something. So And the
Speaker 1: reason it's something is because it is either how do
Speaker 1: I phrase this properly, Lebron's not gonna be there? Well,
Speaker 1: to me, it's not that is so that is by
Speaker 1: no means like, oh lock it in because of that this,
Speaker 1: but it certainly added a little more fuel to the
Speaker 1: idea that Lebron James might not be a Laker next year.
Speaker 1: That it's that so famously or I shouldn't. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's famous, but at least to me, it
Speaker 1: is Lebron when he announced he was going back to Cleveland,
Speaker 1: and he did it with Lee Jenkins. In an SI article,
Speaker 1: he listed all the guys he was excited to be
Speaker 1: playing with with the Caps, and he had not listed
Speaker 1: number one overall pick from a week prior, Andrew Wiggins.
Speaker 1: And one way to read that was the article was
Speaker 1: written before the draft, or that he was you know,
Speaker 1: he was only thinking about or including the active veterans.
Speaker 1: And another way to look at it was Lebron exp
Speaker 1: did that they would be trading Wiggins as part of
Speaker 1: getting a veteran win now guy, and that is exactly
Speaker 1: and so he did not want to include Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 1: when he did not think he was ever going to
Speaker 1: be playing with Andrew Wiggins, which is exactly what they did.
Speaker 1: So here are before I give my opinion on what
Speaker 1: I think this actually is, let's lay out all of
Speaker 1: the available options for this and we can, you know,
Speaker 1: put a percentage on each of them at the end.
Speaker 1: Option one busy guy forgot. Let's like again, like these
Speaker 1: are not power ranked in order. I'm just saying, if
Speaker 1: we want to lay out all of the possibilities, right,
Speaker 1: Option one Busy guy forgot. I guess Option two is
Speaker 1: not that Busy didn't forget, but has some feud with
Speaker 1: DeAndre eight we didn't know about, and he's furious about
Speaker 1: this trade. I would say of all these, that's probably
Speaker 1: the least likely. I think if there was a DeAndre
Speaker 1: eight and Lebron beef, we would have known about it right.
Speaker 1: Option three he did and DeAndre didn't see the text.
Speaker 1: Deandre's wrong because he said Luca texted him and Lebron
Speaker 1: didn't so at night and he didn't say anyone talked
Speaker 1: to him on the phone. They missed the text. Got
Speaker 1: so many texts that you know, when the news broke
Speaker 1: that he got a text from a number that he
Speaker 1: didn't have, it was like, yo, congrats man, let's get
Speaker 1: it and he was like, okay, whatever, and it turns
Speaker 1: out that's Lebron James. Again, these are not power ranked
Speaker 1: in order. I'm just trying to lay out all of
Speaker 1: the available possibilities. Those first three, by the way, slim
Speaker 1: to very very slim, but they're on the possibilities all
Speaker 1: right now. The more salacious ones that Lebron does not
Speaker 1: want to tell DeAndre Ayton excited to play with you
Speaker 1: when he does not know if he will be playing
Speaker 1: with him, and then the last option is Lebron wants
Speaker 1: to expect to be playing with DeAndre Ayton, but wants
Speaker 1: to keep maximum pressure on the Lakers to make every
Speaker 1: move possible to make their team better going into this year,
Speaker 1: and the only leverage he has over them right now
Speaker 1: is the specter of well maybe I don't think I'm
Speaker 1: going to be on this team. That to me, those
Speaker 1: are the those five possibilities cover you know, ninety nine
Speaker 1: percent of the call it one hundred percent of what
Speaker 1: the reason could be. Here's how I would apply the
Speaker 1: likelihood of each my first draft pick of that would
Speaker 1: be Lebron thinks he's going to be on the Lakers,
Speaker 1: did not reach out to DeAndre because he had a
Speaker 1: feeling it would be become public that he had not
Speaker 1: yet reached out to DeAndre and wants to keep the
Speaker 1: pressure on Rob Polenka to continue to improve the roster, which,
Speaker 1: if we're being honest, they have had a underwhelming off season.
Speaker 1: On that note, if I may, then I'll get back
Speaker 1: to the percentage's parts. Because Brew and I got into
Speaker 1: this yesterday. Going into this off season, we felt like
Speaker 1: the Lakers. It was an absolute lock and mandatory that
Speaker 1: they upgrade the center position. They did do that, and
Speaker 1: they did that in an interesting way where they didn't
Speaker 1: have to give up assets, where it didn't cost them
Speaker 1: a lot of money, and the talent upside is quite high.
Speaker 1: But it's also a guy who's six years into his
Speaker 1: career has been unreliable and not that mature and really
Speaker 1: alienated teammates and coaches.
Speaker 2: So I really think Lebron James is like, man, y'all
Speaker 2: got DeAndre and that's not the center I wanted.
Speaker 1: I'm not texting him, I'm not welcome. Oh it's got
Speaker 1: to the team. Oh so youth. Oh so you think,
Speaker 1: oh I should have included that one. I guess as
Speaker 1: a good Lebron is Lebron is pissed that it was
Speaker 1: a Yeah, Oh so I didn't. Actually, So the reason
Speaker 1: I didn't even think of that, but that's obvious. I
Speaker 1: definitely should have. I guess that's kind of that, you know,
Speaker 1: in the lock of de Thief. Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: So here's the reason that I'm I don't put a
Speaker 1: pin in that real quick, and let me finish this
Speaker 1: other thought. Then we'll get to that one. Because that's good.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you mentioned that one. So they did get
Speaker 1: a center, and we can argue about if it was
Speaker 1: their best option, if it was the best of bad options,
Speaker 1: whatever it is. But the rest of the roster not
Speaker 1: only remained basically unchanged, but got to touch worse because
Speaker 1: switching out Dorian Finney Smith for Jake Lauravia is at
Speaker 1: the very least in the short term of downgrade and
Speaker 1: so there would be real frustration there. So I would
Speaker 1: put Lebron expects to be a Laker but wants to
Speaker 1: keep the screws on the Lakers to continue to make
Speaker 1: moves as the reason for him not reaching out. I
Speaker 1: would put that at sixty five percent. I think that
Speaker 1: is the biggest percentage here. I would put Lebron didn't
Speaker 1: reach out because he does not think he's going to
Speaker 1: be a Laker next year at twenty percent. I think
Speaker 1: there is a one in five shot right now that
Speaker 1: Lebron thinks, yeah, I'm not going to be on the team. Now,
Speaker 1: that's not that's that's not huge, but it's not nothing.
Speaker 1: It's you know, more likely than rolling a single die
Speaker 1: and rolling a six or any number on the die,
Speaker 1: any particular number on the die, so sixty five percent
Speaker 1: he's trying to keep the pressure on him. Twenty percent
Speaker 1: he he doesn't think he's going to be there. I
Speaker 1: will give Demons's he you know this is not the
Speaker 1: player he wanted and therefore he didn't reach out at
Speaker 1: five percent. I will certainly massively upgrade Demonse's theory if
Speaker 1: we found out he did reach out to Jake Laavia,
Speaker 1: if like he was like, yo, man, let's get it,
Speaker 1: then then your likelihood is way way higher. I will
Speaker 1: put it at busy guy just didn't do it at
Speaker 1: five percent, and that leaves what oh, that leaves five
Speaker 1: more percent left, and I will put it at he
Speaker 1: did reach out. DeAndre Ayton didn't have the number saved
Speaker 1: and did not know it was Lebron who was like,
Speaker 1: why is this person texting me with a crown at
Speaker 1: four percent, and I will put there is a long
Speaker 1: standing maybe base, maybe out of loyalty to his buddy
Speaker 1: crisp All DeAndre Ayton beef at one percent. So that's
Speaker 1: that's how I handicap this whole thing. It's not nothing though,
Speaker 1: that's my takeaway. It's not nothing, and I I am
Speaker 1: interested in the next time could you know, because you
Speaker 1: know what's also not nothing? Demanse if we're doing the
Speaker 1: not nothing meter. The Lakers who sent out a bunch
Speaker 1: of press releases about a bunch of offseason moves. The
Speaker 1: Lakers not sending out a press release about Lebron opting
Speaker 1: into his player option. That's also not nothing. Now does
Speaker 1: that mean it's everything at no? No, no no. This
Speaker 1: press releases come from the team, like your official press
Speaker 1: release is released by the team and sent to all
Speaker 1: NBA media. The most you want to know, the most
Speaker 1: famous NBA press release ever. Hold on, I gotta, I gotta.
Speaker 1: I want to quote it to you exactly. This is
Speaker 1: an all time one. So pat Riley, who's never my
Speaker 1: light just fell? Do I still look? Okay? I hope?
Speaker 1: So the so pat Riley un official in Miami Heat
Speaker 1: letterhead sent out to the league, league comes and everyone
Speaker 1: covering the league after Danny Ainge took a shot at
Speaker 1: pat Riley. So this is so let me give you
Speaker 1: the background. Danny Ainge till Boston is twenty thirteen, Danny
Speaker 1: Angelo Boston radio station WEI that Lebron James had no
Speaker 1: cause to challenge officials for failing to classify fouls assessed
Speaker 1: Kirk Heinrich and Taj Gibson as flagrant. He said, quote,
Speaker 1: I think the referees got the calls right. I don't
Speaker 1: think it was a hard foul. I think the one
Speaker 1: involving Lebron against Boozer that was a flagrant. I think
Speaker 1: the officials got it right. I think that it's almost
Speaker 1: embarrassing that Lebron would complain about officiating and the So
Speaker 1: Danny Ainge, who was running the Celtics, comments on the
Speaker 1: radio about something that was happening between the Heat and
Speaker 1: the Bulls. So pat Riley has the Miami Heat press
Speaker 1: office type up an official press release that reads, and
Speaker 1: I quote, Danny Ainge needs to shut the fuck up
Speaker 1: and manage his own team. He was the biggest whiner
Speaker 1: going when he was playing, and I know that because
Speaker 1: I coached against him. End of statement. I like, at
Speaker 1: all time, at all time, all take the fine, but
Speaker 1: I've never liked this guy. I coached against him, we
Speaker 1: now play against him. And I quote Danny Ainge needs
Speaker 1: to shut the fuck up and manage his own team.
Speaker 1: He was the biggest whiner going when he was playing,
Speaker 1: and I know that because I coached against him. Oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, gracious, Danny ains then again, I don't know
Speaker 1: why we're doing this. Aine then replies, I stand by
Speaker 1: what I said. That's all. I don't care about pat Riley.
Speaker 1: He can say whatever he wants. But this is just
Speaker 1: Danny Ainge talking. This isn't a press release. This is
Speaker 1: Danny Ainge. And then Aine added, I don't want to
Speaker 1: mess up his Armani suits and all that hair goop.
Speaker 1: It would be way too expensive for me. And so
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a that's so sorry about that.
Speaker 1: I mean, pat Riley's just such a legend. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's just sucking y'all. I remember when that came out
Speaker 1: and I was like, I didn't even know that was
Speaker 1: like a loud like in official communications. I guess, you
Speaker 1: know what a simpler time. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So Holmes wants to get past that Super Bowl loss
Speaker 2: and get that nasty taste out of his mouth, and
Speaker 2: he's it's also getting tired of all the talk, saying
Speaker 2: that he wants to just settle all this on the
Speaker 2: football field. This is another thing that really annoyed you,
Speaker 2: which I'm curious what the angle is here?
Speaker 1: What what pg off? Well, it's not no, no, no,
Speaker 1: his comments didn't annoy me last week, which was so,
Speaker 1: here's the deal. If someone wants to have the courage
Speaker 1: to come out and be like, you know what, you know,
Speaker 1: here's a take, free take for someone who wants it. Okay,
Speaker 1: It's just sometimes sometimes I'm disappointed in uh my industry
Speaker 1: because there are these I can see these. I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: that would be a good take. I don't believe it.
Speaker 1: But no one has made had this take, and it's
Speaker 1: right there, and I know it would cut through the
Speaker 1: noise and you could establish yourself with it, and no one,
Speaker 1: no one, no one has said it. Now, I don't
Speaker 1: believe this. This is not my take. So consider this
Speaker 1: like the sports take version of developing some type of
Speaker 1: vaccine or cure for something and be like, we're not
Speaker 1: patenting it. Anyone can copy it free for the world
Speaker 1: public use. Here's a take. The last few years, Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes has pretty clearly not been judged based on his numbers.
Speaker 1: He's been judged based on the fact that his team wins,
Speaker 1: that he is a leader, that he plays his best
Speaker 1: in the biggest spots, and that is how he has
Speaker 1: held onto the best quarterback alive Moniker despite the fact
Speaker 1: that his two biggest conference rivals, Josh Allen Lamar Jackson,
Speaker 1: have both won league in vps in this time and
Speaker 1: if that has allowed Mahomes to climb to the top
Speaker 1: of the quarterback mountain, then the exact same standard should
Speaker 1: be used to evaluate Jalen Hurts and Jail Who's never
Speaker 1: missed the playoffs, whose team wins double digit games every year,
Speaker 1: who's been to two Super Bowls, been awesome in both.
Speaker 1: Some would argue out played Mahomes in both, certainly in
Speaker 1: this last one, and has done it with what you know,
Speaker 1: let's call it, a polarizing coach and a polarizing receiver
Speaker 1: in a tough city and now is coming off, you know,
Speaker 1: leading an offense to damn near one hundred points combined
Speaker 1: in the conference championship game in the Super Bowl and
Speaker 1: puts his body on the line, doesn't care about his
Speaker 1: passing numbers for the most unstoppable play in football. That
Speaker 1: player the defending Super Bowl MVP. He's the best quarterback alive.
Speaker 1: And take that take is again, I do not believe it,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't have a ton of logical holes if
Speaker 1: someone wanted to have it instead, these dopes want to
Speaker 1: knock Mahomes off his perch of best quarterback in the league.
Speaker 1: And they are doing it for one of three quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: really one of two and mostly one of just one
Speaker 1: who's never once out played him in a big spot.
Speaker 1: It's the majority of quarterback rankings lists right now. I
Speaker 1: have Josh Allen number one, which is hilarious and in
Speaker 1: the file, and it is not an allowable take until
Speaker 1: one time in a spot that matters. He it's not
Speaker 1: a quarterback winsday he outplays Patrick, and the last two years,
Speaker 1: one in his building, one in the Chiefs building, He's
Speaker 1: had the ball in his hands, chance to go do it,
Speaker 1: and it couldn't get forty yards either time, So that's
Speaker 1: not allowed. Lamar can win every MVP from here until retirement,
Speaker 1: and until he wins a single big game, it's obviously
Speaker 1: not allowed. And Joe Burrow had outplayed Patrick in a
Speaker 1: big spot, had a chance to really put a stake
Speaker 1: in the heart of the Chiefs through fourth quarter interception
Speaker 1: the conference championship game lost and hasn't been back to
Speaker 1: the playoffs since, And the amount of people trying to
Speaker 1: argue any one of those three guys has ascended past
Speaker 1: Patrick because Patrick got beat by Jalen Arts and they
Speaker 1: played poorly in the Super Bowl. It's the dumbest shit
Speaker 1: I've ever heard. You then combine it with this whole
Speaker 1: ooh to the Chiefs era over based on what that
Speaker 1: they were just the second best team in football last year,
Speaker 1: based on the fact that they just completed the best
Speaker 1: three year stretch in the history of the league and
Speaker 1: are tied for the best five and seven year stretches
Speaker 1: in the history of the league. What is the what
Speaker 1: is the piece of evidence you have, like, oh, this
Speaker 1: might be the Broncos or Chargers year. There is none,
Speaker 1: And so the again, the Eagles have bragging rights and
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts has bragging rights. And the Eagles have it
Speaker 1: because they won as a team, and Jalen Hurts has
Speaker 1: it because individually he played. You know, he was the
Speaker 1: best quarterback on the field that Sunday. But these AFC
Speaker 1: also rans that are being elevated because of what I
Speaker 1: just I can't I can't deal with just one time
Speaker 1: at one time? Can I just see? It's what I
Speaker 1: said to that guy in Hawaii, the is guy I'm
Speaker 1: walking I'm walking with the family down the boardwalk in
Speaker 1: Honolulu and this guy walks up to me. It's like,
Speaker 1: a man, this is Bill's country out here in my head,
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, it's fucking not, man. It's actually I'm
Speaker 1: not sure there's a place in the United States that
Speaker 1: is that is further removed literally geographically but also spiritually
Speaker 1: from Buffalo, New York as the boardwalk in Honolulu. Like,
Speaker 1: first of all, it's just a bad take. Second of all,
Speaker 1: get a life. I didn't say any of that. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: nice to me. Like five minutes later, he runs me
Speaker 1: down and was like, hey, man, I'm so sorry I
Speaker 1: said that. Can I please get a picture? And I'm
Speaker 1: like sure, so I take the picture. He's like yeah, man, thanks,
Speaker 1: sorry about that, and I'm like sorry. But then I
Speaker 1: couldn't resist because I was like, I'm with my wife
Speaker 1: and kids like, so I was like, I was like,
Speaker 1: hey and listen, man, one day you'll win a big game.
Speaker 1: And I saw a look on his face and it's stung.
Speaker 1: You know why. It's stung the same reason why when
Speaker 1: people put up that picture of me and Mahome a
Speaker 1: couple of parades ago, where I'm smiling and my nose
Speaker 1: is casting a shadow on my teeth. It stings because
Speaker 1: you know it's true. I'm like, damn, that is weird.
Speaker 1: That is like a thing that most people like. It
Speaker 1: shouldn't be physically possible, but it's a thing, or it
Speaker 1: does cast a shadow like that sucks. But that's why
Speaker 1: it stung him, because he knows it's true. And so
Speaker 1: I just don't that I it is. It's really beyond
Speaker 1: dumb to me, the every other let me add one
Speaker 1: other thing. And I said this to Cowherd, and he
Speaker 1: just laughed because he knew I was right, not just
Speaker 1: like this year, but basically for all of modern NFL history.
Speaker 1: If there is a team in a division that everyone
Speaker 1: agrees the same team has the division's best quarterback and
Speaker 1: the division's best coach, that team will be the pick
Speaker 1: to win that division. If there's no debate, like it's
Speaker 1: just like so, I'll give you an example. NFC West,
Speaker 1: there's a debate is McVeigh or Shanahan the best coach?
Speaker 1: And I guess for some there might be a debate
Speaker 1: is perty or Stafford the best quarterback? Not to me,
Speaker 1: but what like, there's it's not often there that it
Speaker 1: is crystal clear on both but when it is, uh,
Speaker 1: that team is everyone's picked to win the division and
Speaker 1: the amount of people this year that are gonna pick
Speaker 1: fucking bon Nicks, sorry for all the curse words today
Speaker 1: to win that division. Or Justin Herbert who again, I
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know if he's won a big
Speaker 1: game since high school, and I have to look at
Speaker 1: the high school. I don't think he did it Oregon.
Speaker 1: I it's just it's just dumb, you know what.
Speaker 2: I just I just people get fickleed with the greatness.
Speaker 2: I don't know if people just don't sometimes.
Speaker 1: But they think we have the next Trent Williams and
Speaker 1: John Simmons. Oh boy, oh boy. Now that might be
Speaker 1: a little strong. True Williams one of the greatest players
Speaker 1: of all time. But if they just if Josh Simmons
Speaker 1: just ends up being the tenth best tackle left tackle
Speaker 1: in the league slightly above average, it is such a
Speaker 1: I mean, Mahome has been to five Super Bowls. He
Speaker 1: had a different starting left tackle in all five. It
Speaker 1: would be just such a massive, massive wors line situation.
Speaker 1: Yet right course of this, you know, the thing is
Speaker 1: what's weird is the Chiefs had a really good guard
Speaker 1: center guard O line this year. The tackle, it was
Speaker 1: the worst tackle play he's had, and previously they had
Speaker 1: they had been bat up the middle but good of
Speaker 1: the like, and so it got really shaky by the
Speaker 1: end of it.