Speaker 1: You know, this is what happens. This is what happens
Speaker 1: when it comes to Lebron James. And by the way,
Speaker 1: this is the thing that is just so funny. You know,
Speaker 1: weeks ago when I got annoyed as something he said,
Speaker 1: he was talking about people shitting on the game every day.
Speaker 1: Wasn't it Lebron James that shouted on the NBA in
Speaker 1: the playing tournament. Wasn't it Lebron James that showed up
Speaker 1: and notified the NBA at the last minute that he
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna be participating an NBA All Star Weekend. I
Speaker 1: don't know whether it was because he didn't like its
Speaker 1: new format or not. Wasn't it Lebron James who were
Speaker 1: reportedly sitting in the locker room with players and Doctor
Speaker 1: j and Larry Bird talked to the players about playing
Speaker 1: hard and giving the fans what they want to see
Speaker 1: and how important All Star Weekend was, And the NBA
Speaker 1: thought that the players really really had bought in until
Speaker 1: Lebron James gave them, gave the players a side, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden they went out and allowed
Speaker 1: almost four hundred points to be scored in the last
Speaker 1: All Star game before this just passed before. This one
Speaker 1: just passed in twenty twenty five. Wasn't that Lebron I
Speaker 1: told y'all when he took his talents to South Beach,
Speaker 1: and nobody gonna say I had a complain about that.
Speaker 1: My complain was about Kevin Durant going to Golden State
Speaker 1: after being up three to one, losing the series to them,
Speaker 1: and then joining them a month later. But we've been
Speaker 1: passed that. We've been over that, and I wish Kevin
Speaker 1: Durant nothing but the best clownish comments about me at all.
Speaker 1: But Lebron James. I certainly never had a problem with
Speaker 1: Lebron James going to Miami. Nothing's more special than South Beach,
Speaker 1: and that brother had me in South Beach four consecutive Junes.
Speaker 1: I was grateful to Lebron James. I wasn't mad. But
Speaker 1: when he decided to take his talents to South Beach
Speaker 1: and did so without showing the corner in respect of
Speaker 1: at least giving Dan Gilbert a heads up that that
Speaker 1: was what he was going to do, because he decided to,
Speaker 1: you know, run an event essentially with Jim Gray sitting
Speaker 1: down and he called he talked about generating over two
Speaker 1: and a half million dollars for a worthy cause, fair enough,
Speaker 1: but it being televised on ESPN, and ultimately making his
Speaker 1: announcement that he was taking his talents to South Beach.
Speaker 1: Did y'all remember what happened in the aftermath of that,
Speaker 1: Remember a collective bargaining negotiation that followed where players were
Speaker 1: stripped to seven percent of basketball related income. I mean
Speaker 1: commissioner at Stern and those guys were coming forward anyway,
Speaker 1: but nevertheless there angs to do so definitely was heightened
Speaker 1: after that. Remember when Chris Paul got moved and got
Speaker 1: traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, But Dan Gilbert, who
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with the deal whatsoever, wrote an
Speaker 1: open letter to the league going absolutely ballistic as to
Speaker 1: how the Lakers could get the very very best player
Speaker 1: in that trade, which was Chris Paul, and basically come
Speaker 1: out with not even having to pay but so much
Speaker 1: for it. They were actually making money while trading for
Speaker 1: Chris Paul and acquiring Chris all in the process. And
Speaker 1: David starned to the facto owner for the New Orleans
Speaker 1: Pelicans at the time, because obviously they didn't have new ownership,
Speaker 1: so the league, the facto owned it for the moment
Speaker 1: in time Nicks the deal well, while was Dan Gilbert
Speaker 1: so insistent on not minding his business and speaking out
Speaker 1: against this so vociferously because he was still pissed off
Speaker 1: at how he was treated by Lebron James. See, Lebron
Speaker 1: gets his money, but this collateral damage that he leaves
Speaker 1: in his wake all over the place, and other players
Speaker 1: don't usually see that until it's too late. But we
Speaker 1: don't talk about that because he's box office and he's phenomenal,
Speaker 1: and he's on the Mount Rushmore basketball and where he goes,
Speaker 1: ratings follow and because of that, we gloss over those facts.
Speaker 1: But those ain't the only facts we gloss over. When
Speaker 1: Lebron talked about the media weeks ago, what does he
Speaker 1: do now? He comes on Pat mcfee's show to Get
Speaker 1: Again today and listen to what he had to say.
Speaker 1: Listen closely, check it out. See a lot of shit too.
Speaker 2: Like I seen Brian Winhurst on one of these shows
Speaker 2: not too long ago, Like.
Speaker 1: You guys played together.
Speaker 2: The guy was like you know, says he's like my
Speaker 2: best friend and these guys are just just weird.
Speaker 1: I have worked with Brian Windhors for years. Never once
Speaker 1: did he say that Lebron was a best friend. A
Speaker 1: matter of fact, years earlier, it was Lebron who sat
Speaker 1: in front of the microphones and said, probably nobody knows
Speaker 1: me better than Brian Windhors, who's been covering me since
Speaker 1: I was in junior high school. But that's how he
Speaker 1: talked about him. Brian Windhors is an ext dephnew commentator
Speaker 1: who does a phenomenal job for ESPN my show Get
Speaker 1: Up NBA Today, Sports Centers, goes and covers the game.
Speaker 1: He is one of the elite people covering the NBA
Speaker 1: in this world. And nobody, I repeat nobody defense Lebron
Speaker 1: James more than that man. And look at what Lebron
Speaker 1: James did. Y'all have watched Wendy report for yours. Tell
Speaker 1: me one time, tell me one thing that Brian went
Speaker 1: to us has done to negatively impact Lebron James. One
Speaker 1: take your time, I'll wait. Nobody is more fair. Nobody
Speaker 1: digs deeper, maneuvers through the crevices to find the positive
Speaker 1: about Lebron James, no matter what the story is. But
Speaker 1: that's how Lebron talked about it. You uns stopped that,
Speaker 1: though he also went into today's players compared to yester year.
Speaker 1: I thought that was a subject he didn't want to touch.
Speaker 1: I thought that we should just have an appreciation for
Speaker 1: the game and not really really compare Lebron James is
Speaker 1: one of the people that told us that until he
Speaker 1: had the platform event, and look at what he.
Speaker 2: Said every single day that he's better. He's not better.
Speaker 2: He wouldn't. You're trying to tell me Giannis wouldn't be
Speaker 2: able to play an NBA game in the seventies.
Speaker 1: He wouldn't be able to do.
Speaker 2: Giannis answer the coupo would have two hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: points in a game in a seventies two hundred and fifty.
Speaker 1: Perhaps, But wasn't that disrespectful to the pioneers who paved
Speaker 1: the way for this game, Ladies and gentlemen. Would Julius
Speaker 1: Irvin have been who he was if it were not
Speaker 1: for Connie Hawkins. Would Michael Jordan had had a model
Speaker 1: to emulate and elevate beyond if it were not for
Speaker 1: Julius Irving. What about Vince Carter when it comes to
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan. What about Kobe Bryant when it comes to
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan. What about Shaq when it came to Wilt
Speaker 1: or Kareem or Elijah Wan? What about the birds of
Speaker 1: the world. When you think about Jerry West, when you
Speaker 1: think about somebody like that, the COB's of the world,
Speaker 1: the MJ's of the world. There was no elgend Beala
Speaker 1: or Oscar Robinson before them. You see, the point is
Speaker 1: you use previous greatness to measure what the level of
Speaker 1: greatness is currently as times have evolved, and you show
Speaker 1: an appreciation for it, you don't get upset because people
Speaker 1: are out there comparing one to the other. You're talking
Speaker 1: about championships, you're talking about leadership, you're talking about durability,
Speaker 1: which obviously Lebron is tops at, not only capabilities, which
Speaker 1: he's on a Mount r That's why he's on the
Speaker 1: Mount Rushmore. I could simply sit up there and say,
Speaker 1: you know what Jannis would have got is Jiannice would
Speaker 1: have been great, but he also would have got knocked
Speaker 1: on his ass a lot, and he would have went
Speaker 1: to the free throw line, and the Feith throw line
Speaker 1: was his achilles heel. With the exception of that game
Speaker 1: six closed out against Phoenix in the finals, free throws
Speaker 1: have always been his achilles heel, but he's phenomenal. We're
Speaker 1: able to look and we're able to say, as we
Speaker 1: look at the great Alan Iverson and we look at
Speaker 1: some of the great great small guards in NBA history,
Speaker 1: we also have to take tom to pause and remind
Speaker 1: them about this dude named Isaiah Thomas who was phenomenal
Speaker 1: with a heart and guts and the leader of the
Speaker 1: physical bad boy Pistons. We look at the game, we
Speaker 1: talk about Steph Curry, the greatest shoot of God has
Speaker 1: ever created. Oh, by the way, he plays a point guard,
Speaker 1: and oh, my lord, the greatest point guard. And then
Speaker 1: a guy like Eddie Johnson for NBA Today or NBA
Speaker 1: Radio on SyRI Exem reminds us, oh, wait a minute.
Speaker 1: My definition of a point guard is a quintessential floor facilitator,
Speaker 1: a flower general who facilitates for others, facilitates opportunities for others.
Speaker 1: That's why Steph Curry can't get that. That's got to
Speaker 1: be magic Johnson. It's a crime to bring up history,
Speaker 1: to look at the game and to compare it, and
Speaker 1: I have an opinion about it. When the conversation unquestionably
Speaker 1: and undeniably involves greatness. If you're not great, you're not
Speaker 1: a part of that conversation. Nobody views that as a crime.
Speaker 1: But that man that showed up on Pat McAfee's show
Speaker 1: today because he must be to go. It can't be
Speaker 1: anything else. You lost six NBA Finals. There is a
Speaker 1: definals against Dallas that you specifically choked in four consecutive
Speaker 1: fourth quarters of an NBA Finals series against Dirk Novisky
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Mavericks with Jason Terry or JJ Berea
Speaker 1: who resembled many me standing next to you guarding you,
Speaker 1: and you averaged two point two points in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: As great as you are, had nothing to do with
Speaker 1: your skill, had nothing to do with their zone defense,
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with your capabilities, had everything to
Speaker 1: do with your heart. The rest of us didn't have
Speaker 1: the skill. You had everything, but also a ten man
Speaker 1: syndrome at that time. Once you learned to win, nothing
Speaker 1: could stop you. If we only went about Lebron, if
Speaker 1: we only looked at Lebron James career, since he won
Speaker 1: his first championship, ladies and gentlemen, we could have the
Speaker 1: go conversation because since he started winning, My god, it
Speaker 1: is what it is but before that, that heart transplant
Speaker 1: that he needed. It is my belief Michael Jordan would
Speaker 1: have been in the hospital blocking the door every single
Speaker 1: time figuratively speaking, to prevent him from having that heart transplant.
Speaker 1: He had just shut him down, took his heart right
Speaker 1: out of his chest, and wouldn't have allowed him to
Speaker 1: have another heart. That's the difference. That's how I feel.
Speaker 1: Others may think differently, clearly that man does, and y'all
Speaker 1: will just sit here and act like that had nothing
Speaker 1: to do with him getting in my face. No, no
Speaker 1: at all. Remember how I told you all the story
Speaker 1: about I'd look at rich Paul in them and I say,
Speaker 1: damn it, I got him on the Mount Rushball. I
Speaker 1: got him number two all time, and y'all act like
Speaker 1: it's an insult. And Rich Paul looked at me and said,
Speaker 1: it is an insult. Where you get that from. Not
Speaker 1: to say that Rich Paul doesn't think for himself, because
Speaker 1: I know he does, but that man feels that way. No,
Speaker 1: he doesn't like me. I don't like him either. My
Speaker 1: feelings about him are what they are, and it's based
Speaker 1: on personal interactions and what I've seen. In terms of
Speaker 1: how I believe he's treated others. It's my opinion. It's
Speaker 1: none of anybody's business beyond that. His feelings are about
Speaker 1: me talking about basketball, and y'all gonna let him get away.
Speaker 1: You're trying to classify me as somebody who would talk
Speaker 1: about him as a dad, as if I exposed something
Speaker 1: that was having happening in the privacy of their home
Speaker 1: in Brentwood somewhere, as opposed to me talking about what's
Speaker 1: going on in the Lakers' uniform, at the Crypto dot
Speaker 1: Com arena or elsewhere. Y'all go let me get away
Speaker 1: with that. Y'all go right ahead. I don't have to
Speaker 1: approach this subject anymore, but I will broach Lebron James
Speaker 1: any damn time I please. As long as he's playing
Speaker 1: this game. He's a relevant sports news topic, and I'm
Speaker 1: going to do my job professionally and ethically. I don't
Speaker 1: have to like him to do that, and he doesn't
Speaker 1: have to like me in order for me to do it.
Speaker 1: I don't get paid to talk to him. I get
Speaker 1: paid to talk about him. But tell him he's welcome
Speaker 1: to talk to me anytime. But we all know that
Speaker 1: ain't gonna happen. As I told y'all before early in
Speaker 1: the show, just to make sure that it wasn't something
Speaker 1: that I would benefit from in terms of ratings or
Speaker 1: anything like that. I offered to come on a shop
Speaker 1: when they confronted me. This was a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1: It's never happened because it's a little bit different when
Speaker 1: you got to say some of the stuff right in
Speaker 1: front of the person, and a person has facts to
Speaker 1: refute what you're saying. Maybe that's why he didn't want
Speaker 1: to meet me in the back after the game to
Speaker 1: have a conversation at the Lakers game. Maybe that's why
Speaker 1: he didn't come up to me and say wait for me,
Speaker 1: and he talked to you. Maybe maybe that's why he
Speaker 1: didn't want to have to deal with a real conversation
Speaker 1: about all the things that he's done to create this
Speaker 1: whole brew. Ah, I get it. I'm not going away,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. I don't have to talk to Lebron James.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm doing fine.
Speaker 1: There are beat writers and other reporters that have to
Speaker 1: talk to him. I don't, and to be quite honest
Speaker 1: with you, at this point, don't much want to. I
Speaker 1: wish him well. I'm looking forward to covering him as
Speaker 1: his career slowly crawls to a end, and I'll be
Speaker 1: one of the first thanking him for the greatness he's
Speaker 1: put on display as a basketball player. I, like everybody else,
Speaker 1: will miss him when he's gone as a man. In
Speaker 1: terms of how I firmly believe he elected to handle
Speaker 1: this situation with the cameraman behind him and all this
Speaker 1: other stuff, I think it's shady as hell. That's how
Speaker 1: I feel. That's where I stand, and it's little to
Speaker 1: nothing that he can do to change my mind at
Speaker 1: this point. God bless him and his family. Wish him
Speaker 1: nothing but the best. Look forward to talking y'all about
Speaker 1: other NBA topics as well. And I don't give it
Speaker 1: damn what y'all said. It was no way in hell
Speaker 1: I was gonna let that man talk to bs that
Speaker 1: he spewed today have a response to it. That was
Speaker 1: not gonna happen. M m
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.