WEBVTT - #thisleague UNCUT: 39 and counting for LeBron James

0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.480
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to this league on't you rule of twenty four

0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:05.279
<v Speaker 1>hour NBA.

0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.200
<v Speaker 2>News This news you, Chris Haynes.

0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:17.040
<v Speaker 3>It's time, work's time, It's so time.

0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:21.799
<v Speaker 1>This League Uncut is underway and on fire. This should

0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:28.720
<v Speaker 1>be a good one. Everyone. Welcome in to another monology

0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:34.320
<v Speaker 1>edition of this League Uncut. Second one of these we've

0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.680
<v Speaker 1>done during the holiday season. Chris Haynes and I on

0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.839
<v Speaker 1>the Move were on the run in different directions, but

0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:44.199
<v Speaker 1>it was such a newsy Saturday in the NBA on

0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:46.800
<v Speaker 1>the second to last day of the calendar year, we

0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.800
<v Speaker 1>had to check in with you because, of course, we

0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:55.360
<v Speaker 1>witnessed a quite significant trade. Ogannaobi goes to the Knicks

0:00:55.480 --> 0:01:02.280
<v Speaker 1>along with Precious Atchua and Malachi Flynn in exchange for RJ.

0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:07.600
<v Speaker 1>Barrett Emmanuel Quickly, a twenty twenty four second round pick

0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:12.279
<v Speaker 1>from Detroit that figures to land right at number thirty

0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.240
<v Speaker 1>one in the draft, just outside the first round. Imagine

0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:21.679
<v Speaker 1>that New York and Toronto pausing their legal battles just

0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:27.479
<v Speaker 1>long enough to swing the second significant in season trade

0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:33.080
<v Speaker 1>we've seen, following the James Harden blockbuster that sent him

0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:38.319
<v Speaker 1>from Philadelphia to clipper Land on Halloween Saturday night, also

0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:43.559
<v Speaker 1>delivered the Detroit Pistons first win in twenty nine games

0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:50.640
<v Speaker 1>twenty nine against the visiting Raptors, who were depleted by

0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:54.040
<v Speaker 1>the trade earlier in the day, and as predicted as

0:01:54.200 --> 0:02:01.000
<v Speaker 1>guaranteed by R Chris Haynes on the most recent addition

0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.320
<v Speaker 1>of this league uncut last week.

0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:10.200
<v Speaker 3>I'm gonna go out on the limb. I normally don't

0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.560
<v Speaker 3>do it. I normally don't do this, but I'm gonna

0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.680
<v Speaker 3>go out on a limb. Detroit is winning its.

0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:20.680
<v Speaker 2>Next game against the Toronto Raptors.

0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.440
<v Speaker 3>Against the Toronto Raptors at home.

0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:26.840
<v Speaker 2>The twelve and eighteen Toronto Raptors who just pummeled Washington.

0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:30.080
<v Speaker 2>Chris Haynes, Do I have this right? Chris Haynes is

0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:38.200
<v Speaker 2>guarantee that the Pistons will win at home against the

0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:39.280
<v Speaker 2>Toronto Raptors.

0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:43.160
<v Speaker 3>I'm going to say right now, there's urgency within the

0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.480
<v Speaker 3>locker room of the Detroit Pistons, and I think they're

0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:49.200
<v Speaker 3>going to try to ride the momentum that they had

0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:51.720
<v Speaker 3>and making this game a close game against the Boston

0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.079
<v Speaker 3>Celtis and get that next game against the Raptors.

0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.520
<v Speaker 1>Instinct tells me. Unfortunately, I'm not sure he's ever gonna

0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:01.880
<v Speaker 1>let us here the end of that one. Was it

0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:06.320
<v Speaker 1>really the boldest prediction, but you saw he's he's loving it.

0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.240
<v Speaker 1>Use of Nurkics chimed in about it, So yeah, we

0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:15.160
<v Speaker 1>haven't heard the last of mister Haynes calling is shot there.

0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:19.320
<v Speaker 1>All of that was happening, though easy to miss. That's

0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:23.040
<v Speaker 1>Lebron James birthday December thirtieth, the oldest player in the

0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:27.520
<v Speaker 1>NBA for the first time in his career, Lebron James

0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:32.520
<v Speaker 1>turns thirty nine, and of course, the loudest Lebron related

0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.600
<v Speaker 1>headlines on his birthday. They all dealt with the potential

0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:41.360
<v Speaker 1>game tying three that he drained in Minnesota controversially ruled

0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.880
<v Speaker 1>a two on Sunday, the final day of twenty twenty three.

0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:47.440
<v Speaker 1>The league came out in its last two minute report

0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:52.000
<v Speaker 1>and validated that call, saying that the evidence wasn't conclusive

0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.560
<v Speaker 1>enough to change it. So that's what people are mostly

0:03:55.600 --> 0:04:00.240
<v Speaker 1>talking about after that narrow Lakers loss at West Leading Minnesota.

0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.160
<v Speaker 1>But for me, it's become an annual thing on my

0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:08.040
<v Speaker 1>sub stack. When December thirty arrives, I write a piece

0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:11.480
<v Speaker 1>about Lebron's birthday because of all the stuff, the amazing

0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:15.520
<v Speaker 1>stuff he's doing at the age of nearly forty it

0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:21.839
<v Speaker 1>is remarkable, and it, to me deserves it merits a

0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:26.280
<v Speaker 1>yearly update. The hockey fans among us surely won't forget

0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:31.080
<v Speaker 1>that Gordie Howe played in an NHL game at the

0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:35.720
<v Speaker 1>age of fifty two. You feel pretty safe saying that

0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:40.760
<v Speaker 1>Lebron James won't match that pretty safe. Notice in the

0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:47.480
<v Speaker 1>sentence the use of won't rather than can't. That's because

0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:52.200
<v Speaker 1>ruling it out completely, it feels especially unwise to take

0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:55.159
<v Speaker 1>that course. Given what we're seeing from Lebron here in

0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.720
<v Speaker 1>his twenty first season, I think you'd still have to

0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.960
<v Speaker 1>rank him among the top ten to fifteen ish players

0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.440
<v Speaker 1>in the league. He's still a top ten player on

0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:10.160
<v Speaker 1>a lot of nights. Okay. Does he have thirteen more

0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:16.080
<v Speaker 1>years of NBA basketball in him to match Gordy Howe?

0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:22.719
<v Speaker 1>Probably not. However, could we go to Lebron into playing

0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:27.039
<v Speaker 1>long enough to supplant Nat Hickey? The same Nat Hickey

0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.560
<v Speaker 1>who appeared in two games as player coach for the

0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:34.560
<v Speaker 1>Providence Steamrollers way back in nineteen forty eight at the

0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.599
<v Speaker 1>age of nearly forty six. If enough of us make

0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:41.320
<v Speaker 1>noise about that record being out of reach for Lebron.

0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:46.159
<v Speaker 1>Could we nudge him into playing until he ends up

0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:51.480
<v Speaker 1>as the oldest player in NBA history. Perhaps, I'd say

0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.320
<v Speaker 1>it's conceivable. I've also been writing and saying for months

0:05:55.360 --> 0:06:00.200
<v Speaker 1>now that Lebron, and again, no matter where you want

0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.920
<v Speaker 1>to put him vis A VI Michael Jordan and Kareem

0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:08.760
<v Speaker 1>Abdul Jabbar in the traditional goat debate, on this scorecard,

0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:15.719
<v Speaker 1>Lebron has already sewn up longevity goat status and now

0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.320
<v Speaker 1>he's just patting his lead in that division. Remember, Lebron

0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:25.560
<v Speaker 1>is reportedly pumping one million dollars annually into his body

0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:30.520
<v Speaker 1>maintenance regiment, and you'd have to say it's paying off

0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:37.760
<v Speaker 1>if that continues. Does anyone really see Lebron stopping before

0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.920
<v Speaker 1>the age of forty, No, He's going past age forty

0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.120
<v Speaker 1>Based on all the available hints and signals he's been

0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:47.599
<v Speaker 1>given us, I think if there's any force that is

0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.520
<v Speaker 1>likely to lure him into retirement in the near future,

0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.760
<v Speaker 1>something would have to happen on the expansion front, because

0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:58.760
<v Speaker 1>we know he's been very vocal about wanting to move

0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:01.960
<v Speaker 1>into NBA ownership when he's done playing. Something would have

0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:06.039
<v Speaker 1>to happen there that demands an immediate response. That's, to me,

0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.200
<v Speaker 1>the only thing that would get Lebron James off the

0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.880
<v Speaker 1>floor anytime soon. And when I've watched him play this

0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.360
<v Speaker 1>season in person, I've had that pleasure three times. I

0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.080
<v Speaker 1>can't say that I've really been sitting there worrying too

0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:23.240
<v Speaker 1>much about the possibility that we're running low on the

0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:25.960
<v Speaker 1>opportunities to see him in person. I don't want to

0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:30.280
<v Speaker 1>get too caught up into buying this whole marketing campaign

0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:35.000
<v Speaker 1>against Father Time. And of course, Lebron said recently, I'm

0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:36.920
<v Speaker 1>sure you remember the quote. It was one of the

0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.560
<v Speaker 1>most circulated NBA quotes of twenty twenty three if the

0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.600
<v Speaker 1>line about trying to give him one loss referring to

0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.160
<v Speaker 1>Father Time. I don't want to get too wrapped up

0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.120
<v Speaker 1>in all that. But the end does not feel near,

0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:54.520
<v Speaker 1>not yet. Regular readers and listeners have heard me say

0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:59.520
<v Speaker 1>often that I consider myself very fortunate to have been

0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:03.440
<v Speaker 1>sent by ESPN to Sacramento for the very first NBA

0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.840
<v Speaker 1>game Lebron played in October two thousand and three, and

0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:16.160
<v Speaker 1>given what he's doing now decades later, decades, Yes, with

0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:20.080
<v Speaker 1>an s you have to marvel at what he's still

0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.600
<v Speaker 1>doing in purple and gold. Even if it is true

0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.960
<v Speaker 1>that he's been more vulnerable to injury as a Laker

0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.840
<v Speaker 1>than he ever was before, and as I'm recording this,

0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.160
<v Speaker 1>I can make that statement, but you also have to

0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:39.240
<v Speaker 1>note Lebron played in thirty of the lakers first thirty

0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:43.680
<v Speaker 1>three games this season, and he was dealing with a

0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:48.680
<v Speaker 1>less than pristine right foot throughout last season's playoffs. Well,

0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:54.320
<v Speaker 1>he's come back from that in uber efficient fashion. That's

0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:57.680
<v Speaker 1>the way you'd have to describe his last days as

0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:01.920
<v Speaker 1>a thirty eight year old. Entering Sunday's play, James was

0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.319
<v Speaker 1>shooting fifty three point six percent from the floor, which

0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.920
<v Speaker 1>is his highest reading since his final season in Cleveland

0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:13.640
<v Speaker 1>in twenty seventeen eighteen. At forty point nine percent from

0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:19.959
<v Speaker 1>deep entering Sunday's play, that would represent a career high figure.

0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.360
<v Speaker 1>It's probably been helped somewhat by the fact that Lebron

0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.080
<v Speaker 1>is taking five and a half threes per game this

0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:30.720
<v Speaker 1>season compared to nearly seven threes last season, but still

0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.520
<v Speaker 1>forty point nine percent from deep would be his all

0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:37.880
<v Speaker 1>time best if he can stay at that level, and overall,

0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:43.439
<v Speaker 1>Lebron averaging twenty five point one points, seven point five rebounds,

0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.600
<v Speaker 1>seven point four assists. Come on, man, none of that

0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.600
<v Speaker 1>should be happening at age thirty nine. But it is

0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:56.400
<v Speaker 1>the part we can't see and that we can't really know,

0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:03.079
<v Speaker 1>is how much the lakers middling seventeen and sixteen record

0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:09.559
<v Speaker 1>entering Sunday's play is weighing on him. And as I'm

0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:15.680
<v Speaker 1>recording this, the Lakers just announced that Lebron, both with

0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:20.160
<v Speaker 1>an illness and a left knee contusion, is indeed playing

0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:24.800
<v Speaker 1>tonight on New Year's Eve in New Orleans. So make

0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:28.880
<v Speaker 1>that thirty one of thirty four games this season that

0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:33.160
<v Speaker 1>Lebron James is in the lineup for the Lakers. But yeah,

0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.200
<v Speaker 1>they're seventeen and sixteen entering the New Orleans game. They

0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:42.240
<v Speaker 1>are scuffling in the play in zone. Again, they were

0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:47.560
<v Speaker 1>literally in the Timberwolve zip code when Lebron celebrated number

0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.280
<v Speaker 1>thirty nine. But the Lakers to this point just do

0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:54.040
<v Speaker 1>not appear to be on the same level as Minnesota

0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.920
<v Speaker 1>or surging Oklahoma City, let alone the defending champions from

0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:03.920
<v Speaker 1>Denver and over in the East Boston, Milwaukee, Philly. You'd

0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:07.240
<v Speaker 1>put all those teams ahead of the Lakers in the

0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.240
<v Speaker 1>championship hunt too. Now, on their day, they can still

0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:15.160
<v Speaker 1>play the most withering team defense you'll see anywhere. But

0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:21.280
<v Speaker 1>the offensive shortcomings, the lack of shooting, the group around

0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:25.320
<v Speaker 1>James and Anthony Davis, and the holes that the Lakers

0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.760
<v Speaker 1>still have well chronicled. And then you still have very

0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:33.960
<v Speaker 1>real and tangible doubts about Lebron at thirty nine and

0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:37.680
<v Speaker 1>AD at twenty nine. Can those guys physically deal with

0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:42.800
<v Speaker 1>a two month playoff run different proposition to the way

0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.560
<v Speaker 1>they mode through seven games in the n Season Tournament

0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:51.200
<v Speaker 1>to win the IST and set Lebron James up to

0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:56.000
<v Speaker 1>be named the first most valuable player in in season

0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.760
<v Speaker 1>tournament history. I know you're gonna ask me about trades.

0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.160
<v Speaker 1>What might the Lakers do before the February eighth trade deadline? Well,

0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:06.800
<v Speaker 1>their recent preference has been shorter term deals whenever possible

0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:11.160
<v Speaker 1>around Lebron and Ad. So to me, that continues to

0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:16.120
<v Speaker 1>suggest that a trade for Chicago Zach Levine. I think

0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:20.240
<v Speaker 1>it's more unlikely than likely, because Levine would be a

0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:24.240
<v Speaker 1>two hundred and fifteen million dollar third option in LA

0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.680
<v Speaker 1>if that's the birthday gift that James was hoping for

0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:32.000
<v Speaker 1>or if he's merely hoping that Levine ships to the

0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:37.200
<v Speaker 1>West coast closer to the February eighth trade deadline, my

0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:40.439
<v Speaker 1>instinct is he's gonna wind up being disappointed. We certainly

0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:45.280
<v Speaker 1>have to concede, though, that things can change fast. A

0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.360
<v Speaker 1>year ago, at this time, when Lebron was celebrating his

0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:54.640
<v Speaker 1>thirty eighth birthday, the Lakers season it seemed utterly unsalvagable.

0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:59.720
<v Speaker 1>Then the Lakers end up making multiple trades in January

0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:05.280
<v Speaker 1>and February. They regrouped and then unexpectedly reached the Western

0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:12.080
<v Speaker 1>Conference Finals. On another front, Lebron clearly faces some competition now,

0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:19.400
<v Speaker 1>some very stern competition, capable of bumping him from Hollywood's

0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:24.800
<v Speaker 1>leading man status among athletes, because seven hundred million dollar

0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:28.600
<v Speaker 1>man sho he O Tani just signed with the Dodgers.

0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:38.200
<v Speaker 1>But trust me, King James isn't going away, not yet.

0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:44.120
<v Speaker 1>I suppose you can argue that he can't be singularly

0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:48.880
<v Speaker 1>dominant like he once was, where you could seemingly put

0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.360
<v Speaker 1>any random forsome beside him and he could get that

0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:57.440
<v Speaker 1>group to the NBA Finals. But look, he's the only

0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:02.560
<v Speaker 1>thirty nine year old you will fight on today's NBA map,

0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:08.960
<v Speaker 1>and he's proving more fade resistant than anyone his age

0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.480
<v Speaker 1>is supposed to be. All right, everyone, that's gonna do

0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:18.800
<v Speaker 1>it for this solo edition of This League Uncut. We

0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:24.400
<v Speaker 1>certainly hope all your holiday celebrations were warm, wonderful. Chris

0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.960
<v Speaker 1>and I wish you a prosperous twenty twenty four. Hopefully,

0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.600
<v Speaker 1>very soon we'll be back together for a new edition

0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:38.360
<v Speaker 1>of This League Uncut, presumably an episode filled with trade talk.

0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.360
<v Speaker 1>The next show will be our first show of the

0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.400
<v Speaker 1>new year, as we dribble toward our one year anniversary

0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:49.080
<v Speaker 1>in just a matter of weeks. Now, Please remember, as always,

0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:53.000
<v Speaker 1>if you have it already, rate, review, and subscribe to

0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:58.440
<v Speaker 1>This League Uncut via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get

0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:05.000
<v Speaker 1>your podcasts from Chris, from producer Ryan, and from yours.

0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:11.160
<v Speaker 1>Truly Happy new year, everyone, and that'll do it for us,

0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:12.280
<v Speaker 1>See you next time.

0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.000
<v Speaker 3>This League and Cutter is an iHeartRadio production

0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:22.720
<v Speaker 2>Chris Haines and Mark Stein