WEBVTT - LeBron Wants All The Drama 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:18.040 Come on, come on, come on, come on. 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.040 On this episode of the heat Chet, We're going to 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:23.599 spend time, just a little bit of time breaking down 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.360 All Star weekend. But the one thing that we could 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.639 take away from the weekend, from the festivities, from all 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:36.640 of the gravi toss that this particular event held, given 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.559 the fact that it was top seventy five players of 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.519 all time, given that it was Lebron James back in 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:47.320 his pseudo hometown where he played for multiple different eras 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:51.239 in the Cleveland Cavaliers history, all the shade thrown at 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:56.120 GM Rob Polinka, the tension, the bombshell reporting this statement 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.080 about his son and him playing with Bronnie James, to 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.640 winning the All Star Game on the last second double 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.400 team fade away jumper, Oh my god, we must get 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:11.160 into Lebron James him of course dominating every single highlight, 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:17.000 every single headline of any so drop that. 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:30.360 I'm perfect right my last night, like do. 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:34.520 You think mother reread likes that gets excited still by 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:39.640 chains And I'm certain, right, I'm certain, it's just certain 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.200 and a current like an occurrent, as my grandma would 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.160 have said, Welcome. 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:48.560 To the heat Check. 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:53.920 It is happy Chris Middleton Day two to twenty two. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:58.400 Just like the All Star Game, this episode of the 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:03.600 Heat Check has been hijacked by Lebron James. Lebron James 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:09.960 the All Star Game both shockingly good while unbelievably bad 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.160 at the exact same time. So let's talk about the 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.280 good because we're pushing Pe. Apparently everyone's pushing p at 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.000 the All Star weekend too. That thing went viral as well. 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:21.040 I'm not saying that I made it viral, but it 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:25.120 did get played acoustically at the halftime show. I think 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.320 I was watching that at the same time I was 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:29.120 watching Daredevil Confession. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.000 My interests were split. 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.519 Marvel has Marvel has dominated my brain. 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.320 A new format of the Rising Stars Challenge. 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:45.280 That we talked about was, as I foretold, absolutely delicious. 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:50.520 Dope needs to be how it is moving forward seeing 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.560 young guns out there dazzling one another, the best of 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.000 the best. Thank god we got to see some extra 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:02.560 guys brought into the Rising Stars Challenge after the fact, right, 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:06.359 it was musty TV. Musty TV, and if you haven't 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.360 seen it, go back watch it. Skills Challenge shockingly fun. 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.959 I went from hating that event to being like, well, 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:19.840 isn't this just a little delight seeing Evan Mobley like 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.400 have to win on a half court shot, Evan Mobley 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.080 seven footer half court shot to win it against the 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:31.040 Giannis Antetukompo brothers like, who are just somehow in this 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.519 event because of their relationship to Giannis, which is shockingly 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.200 eerily similar to where we're going with the rest of 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:43.560 this show, Nepatiz, as my mom would call it Nepatiz. 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.480 Of course, the game itself, with the elm ending that 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.800 has to stay that everyone put shade on for many 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:56.200 months after the first time we saw it amazing, like 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:01.920 a blast mega wattstar power to the level that even 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:09.000 a MVP like Nikola Jokic did not get a minute 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:10.480 of time in the fourth quarter. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:11.800 That's how good that was. 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.040 Steph set a record of threes set in an All 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.880 Star game, and of course the game was won by 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:23.839 Lebron James on his we'll call it pseudo home floor 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.400 which used to be called the Q which is now 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:30.280 the Rocket Mortgage Field House, and he won on a 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:37.400 turnaround fade away covered like slathered by two defenders. 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:42.120 More of that later. The bad the weather. 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.239 Like Cleveland should never host an All Star Game, ever, 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:49.360 no cold weather city, including New York City, should host 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.640 an All Star Game for the NBA. We cannot be 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.960 having these games in these shitty cities in the middle 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.320 of winter. We need a respite. Like let me just 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:01.920 say this, do you want to keep like big time 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:05.640 players in your city and not just have them legitimately 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:09.960 sprinting to their pjs forty five minutes after the All 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.240 Star Game is over? You host it in a warm 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:15.279 weather city like Miami, which is where they all are 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.680 probably right this very second. Do not lost it in 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.720 cold weather towns. We are talking Boston twenty twenty five. 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:25.880 Fuck that for so many reasons. You're talking about a 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.800 cold weather city which has also been like low key 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:33.240 known for being racist, hosting an exhibition game where definitely 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.880 that will come up. I am certain, Bill Russell, excuse me, 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:42.039 Marcus Smart, excuse me. People will come out from the rafters. 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.719 Kyrie Irving might be vaccinated by then, folks, who knows, 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.760 or he might be retired one of the two. No, folks, 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:50.880 we do not need Boston in twenty twenty five. We 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:54.160 need Miami, We need Los Angeles, we need Phoenix, we 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.600 need anything below the frost line. 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:57.480 That's what we need. 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:00.840 We do not need to be worried about rocking our 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.960 new Jordan Ones and getting them fucked up because there's 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.200 salt on the ground and you have to literally sell 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:12.440 them on mrcary used and used Jordan Ones fresh from 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:16.479 the All Star Game. Anything must go mrcary dot com. 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.880 Like that's where we're at on this. And the worst 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:21.680 of all, you guys already know what. 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:23.880 Time it is. It's the Dunk Contest. This thing needs 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:24.360 to change. 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:26.880 This probably needs to just get put down to sleep 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.440 while like night Night sleep mask like ethanize the Dunk Contest. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:33.800 The Dunk Contest is that. 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.480 Dog that you loved and you've been with, You've had 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:39.560 him your entire life, and like you either take him 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.760 to the vet or he runs away to die, like 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:45.599 and you know you'll never see him again. But it's time. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.920 It needs you need a new puppy and there needs 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.320 to be a new event. And the Dunk Contest is 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.800 not that. Because when the best part of the Dunk 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:58.520 Contest is a regular dunk in Tim's in Timberland boots, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.239 which the most impress the thing is that he decided 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.640 to bring out the most iconic color that everyone hates 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.120 to get scuffed, and it's like, oh, how could you 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.160 be so brave Cole Anthony, multimillionaire that you would wear 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:11.640 a pair of one hundred and fifty dollars Timberland boots 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:13.720 ah and dunking in them. 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.280 Excuse me, excuse me. 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:20.520 We have legends in the building, and you guys knew 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.160 for months legends were going to be in the building, 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.800 all of them in one place watching you. I get 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:32.080 terrified of failure when no one's watching, when I don't 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.640 even know who's watching. If there was Bill Russell, or 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:40.200 how about all of them, just Kareem abdulje Bar, Michael 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.680 Jordan Shack, and you know there's gonna be commentary on 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:48.200 what you've done. They're sitting front row, some of them 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.480 like doctor Dre actual or doctor Dre Doctor j that 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.960 was an invisiline flub, a doctor j holding up signs 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.880 of your score. And your best move is putting on 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.840 a New York knickt jersey because your father played there 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:08.080 in Timberland boots to give homage to the New York market, 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.880 which you don't even play for because you play for Orlando. 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.920 And then literally you're pandering to the greats. And you've 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.480 got doctor Jay with the sign up watching you and 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:20.800 all you can do is a regular little dunk and 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:26.920 Tim's excuse me, we've jumped the shark. This is we've 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:33.520 got legends of the game. Kareem Abduljabar legitimately grabbing his 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:35.920 coat and dip setting in the middle of the dunk 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:37.840 contest that went viral. 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:38.680 Excuse me? 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:44.239 What are you should be embarrassed? Like you should be embarrassed, 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:49.160 NBA embarrassed. There should have been a new bar set 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:54.480 for this event, which is you cannot compete unless you're 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:57.360 in the All Star Game. That's the only way you 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:01.319 can compete is if you're actually an Austar one Toscano 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:07.120 Anderson nice kid, loved the little Mexican flag. Kobe Bryant 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:09.280 shoes love that, love his story. 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:11.040 He's a fucking G. 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.080 League player on a two way contract who got a 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.600 full contract this year. Like he was a nice story. 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:20.600 And we can't even get Gary Payton the second up 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.760 in the year. Are you kidding me? If we're gonna 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.480 get random like this isn't the Rising Stars dunk contest. 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.839 If we want to do that, that's cute, and that 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:31.840 would be a Rising Stars contest. We need real stars 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.319 in the Dunk contest. Michael Jordan competed in this thing. 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:38.880 Dominique Wilkins competed in this thing. I've gotta watch Anthony 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:43.280 Simons a year away last year from anywhere near what 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.840 we would call like mediocre stardom or like Jupiter em 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.120 like he's not even a star, He's just like some 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:50.400 random thing. 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.520 We've got one Toscano. 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.719 Anderson, We've got Cole Anthony, We've got Opie topping for 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.960 the second time, literally just trying to get minutes as 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.199 much like cam time is possible because Tis hasn't hidden 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:07.199 in a closet somewhere. This is not the Dunk Contest 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:08.040 I grew up loving. 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.520 We are all like burning this thing down to the ground. 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:18.760 It's like shame, shame, shame. That's where we're at, Jesus Christ. 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:27.480 But what stole every headline after that long side road 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.120 of a rant that I did not even anticipate going on, 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:37.360 the main topic of our Star weekend was everything about 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:38.520 Lebron James. 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:44.400 It was drama, all encapsulating. 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:51.520 Of leverage and posturing and subtle remarks designed to send 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:58.760 warning shots and then responses from agencies and front offices 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:03.200 and the media the world trying to dissect, deconstruct and 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.880 make sense of what the fuck is going on with 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:09.040 Lebron James and the Lakers right now because it feels 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:13.800 like things have gotten kind of awkward really fast. We 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:18.440 are going to be dealing with this aftermath until Lebron 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:22.360 James is at a point where he can sign his 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:26.120 extension in August, and it'll get really loud if he doesn't. 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:27.880 That's where we're at. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.800 There's going to be pieces written about this from now 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:31.960 until free agency. 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:33.959 The magnitude of. 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:38.280 What Braun is saying, not only directly, but indirectly in 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.040 so many ways because he said so many things during 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:41.520 the course of. 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:42.240 The All Star Game. 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.000 He gave a one on one to Athletic The dropped 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.320 in the middle of All Star weekend when he has 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.880 absolutely zero relevance in terms of his team right now, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.800 and that is what he is known for. It all 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:58.480 began during that interview with Jason Lloyd where he was 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.679 asked in a joking manner. It was a total throataway 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:05.079 comment about Lebron James, who played for the Cleveland Calves twice. 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:07.720 They're a fun young team, huh ever think. 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.480 About coming back to Cleveland. Ha ha ha, right, ha 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:11.000 ha ha. 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:16.839 And the answer sent ripples around the league. Oh yeah, 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.599 doors not closed on that. I don't know what my 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:24.280 future holds. Pause excuse me, hold on? Did he just 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.359 say he was open to coming back to the Cleveland 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:31.680 Cavaliers for a third time. Isn't he under contract for 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:35.160 the next two years? What are we talking about here? 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:39.960 As it turns out, that was the first of a 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:46.840 number of shots at Rob Polinka, multiple even Rich Paul, 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.920 the leader of Clutch Sports, which represents Lebron James cod 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.320 Stras just for no reason. Bron then went on to 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.400 talk about the current Calves in a way that also 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.040 seemed like shade thrown at Rob Polinka. 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.359 This is what he said. I think Kobe and those guys. 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:08.720 Have done an unbelievable job at drafting and making trades. 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.680 I think the big fella, Jared Allen the acquisition for 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.760 it was amazing for them to make that trade. Obviously, 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.400 Darius Garland is a big time player. I think the 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:20.760 role that Kevin Love is playing right now has also 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:24.880 uplifted those young guys. Seeing a veteran that could sacrifice 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:30.880 a champion that has won a championship. Pause, any champion 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:33.640 has won a championship. I just want to say, you 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:35.480 don't need to say that. It's like ATM machine, you 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:37.640 know what I mean, all the things that he's done 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.480 to come off the bench and play his role. I'm 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:46.400 not surprised by anything they're doing right now, and that's 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:47.000 a lie. 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:47.880 We all are. 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:53.240 Everyone is not only surprised, we're shocked. They have shocked 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:55.520 the fuck out of us to the point where we 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.600 are now questioning our own reality. Because there is a 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:00.959 scenario where the Cleveland Calvin are the one seed in 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.439 the East. Without Lebron James on that team, that is 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:10.760 banana Land. No one could foresee that, not even Lebron James. 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:16.439 So shady, so shady he is, and I fucking love it. 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:25.200 The next day, things went into overdrive when Lebron unprompted 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:27.760 completely out of the clouds dropped this. 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:30.240 Just as it for no reason. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:35.960 Nobody's asking about his son, nobody's asking about Lebron James 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.800 Final tour, farewell tour, no one, not one person. Maybe 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.080 he's just reflective in that moment, but I don't think so. 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:47.520 I think everything Lebron James does is extremely calculated. This 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:49.360 is what he said, because he did this. He's been 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:51.880 doing this since he was sixteen years old. He's been 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.680 in the limelight of the media, knowing exactly what little 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:57.640 buttons to push and how to a little like Pinocchio, 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.280 a marionette of the Meatia. 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:02.400 This is what he said. 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:08.120 My last year will be played with my son. Wherever 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.320 Bronni is at, That's where I'll be. I would do 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:17.680 whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:26.240 It's not about money at that point. Whoa We all know, Yeah, 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:33.600 Washington Go go, g league ignites anyone, uh, Shanghai Sharks, anyone, yo, 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:35.040 that would be crazy. 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:37.880 We know how much lebron James loves China. We do 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:42.840 know he's a fan of China. We knew exactly. 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:48.880 What this would do. He knew exactly what this would do. Chaos, 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:51.120 mass fucking chaos. 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:51.720 Chaos. 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:55.480 That has the random fan of the NBA with no 0:15:55.600 --> 0:16:01.880 affiliation to lebron James legitimately googling YouTube highlights of Bronnie James, 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:07.240 people creating new mock drafts about where Bronnie James would go. 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.640 I'm talking about pushing buttons to the point where the 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:16.800 entire landscape has shifted, like a seismic shift in the landscape. 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:23.200 Who we're all thinking about matching Lebron James Junior, Lebron 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:30.240 James Senior, Jerseys shoes, content, series of Father Like Father, 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.040 Like Son, A Tale of two Bronnis. You know what 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:37.120 I mean, all of this money, money, money, to the 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.560 point where even I think this motherfucker might go number 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:41.200 one overall. 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:43.280 I'm pretty sure he will. 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:48.000 For no reason other than the fact that Lebron James 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:52.280 contributes to more wins at this age in half a 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:58.000 season than most top eight picks in the lottery contribute 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.120 in the course of their entire first cart in a 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:05.520 half of a season, contributes to sixty five million dollars 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.719 in additional revenue just for that team alone, let alone 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:12.639 for the community that he ends up affecting from the 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.680 people who go to restaurants and bars, et cetera, et cetera, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:16.120 et cetera. 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.480 He knows exactly what he's. 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:25.080 Doing, absolutely unreal and again warning shot to Rob Polenka. 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.679 He's saying, you think, just because I love La, I 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:32.800 won't leave La. You think I'm just gonna stay here 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:37.200 for no reason at all, just because of some sunshine. 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:42.400 I lived in Cleveland, Ohio. You think I'm not willing 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:43.960 to do what it takes. 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:45.760 You think I'm done moving. 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.919 I've moved a million times in my NBA career. I 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.640 went from Cleveland to Miami, to Cleveland again. 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:59.880 To la You think I wouldn't do this shit again? Sheesh. 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:04.040 I left my best friends d Wade and Chris Bosh 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.720 and Miami, where I drove my bike to work every 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.600 day on the beach, and I went back to that 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:17.280 shithole where an owner told the world to burn my jersey. 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:21.560 You think I won't leave the Lakers, You. 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:26.520 Think get me a winner? Right fucking now, I'm out. 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.040 I am the Golden Goose, and I will be taking 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:34.400 my talents to whatever place I deem it important. 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:36.680 Not sure you could. 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:40.720 Say anything bigger than this to hijack the news, And 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:43.520 of course a dozen stories end up dropping after that 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:47.680 about how unhappy Lebron James was with the trade deadline, 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.520 about how he was definitely not co signing the lack 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.520 of moves with Rob Polinka. As Rob Pulinka tried to 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:58.560 pedal to the world, pieces that don't just get written overnight, 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:01.919 pieces that have been held for a moment when it 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:04.520 makes sense to drop them, which is right on the 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.400 heels of Lebron James sending warning shot after warning shot. 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:11.680 He followed that up Lebron. 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:16.080 With effusive praise for another GM not named Rob Plinka, 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:22.400 Sam Presty. Yeah, this MVP over here is Sam Presty. 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.240 He's the MVP. Josh Giddy is great, Sam Presty. 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:30.280 I don't understand this guy's eye for talent. He drafted KD. Russ, 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.360 Jeff Green, Serge ibaka, Reggie Jackson. I mean the fact 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:35.159 that he has this roster of names just in his 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:39.439 head boom boom boom, boom boom, is like he scripted this. 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.040 This guy is pretty damn good. Bron, says rot Row 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.320 Rob Polinka. You know who has a shitload of draft 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.359 picks that they could trade and a lot of cap 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.879 space for a guy just sitting there waiting in the wings. 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.160 That's the Oklahoma City thunder Folks. They could very easily 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:03.240 trade for Lebron James with no issues immediately, with ready 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:07.040 made stars willing to pass Lebron James the ball in 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:12.720 angles that the mind has never even conceived. Lebron is 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:15.159 not listing your draft pick since you got put in 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:17.360 charge in twenty nineteen. Because there's only one and it's 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:21.320 Taylor Horton Tucker, a guy that you miscalculated in terms 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.520 of his value to the marketplace when he wanted Kyle Lowry, 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:28.280 and you decided not to trade for Kyle Lowry because 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:31.920 of your little golden goosher, one little measley ass, dusty 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.680 ass draft pick in Taylor Horton Tucker that you took, 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.480 I believe, either in the late first round. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:38.680 Or the second. 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.720 And that is when the think pieces started to come out, folks. 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:47.880 Then Tom Ziller, Mark Stein, Jason Lloyd in the most 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:51.040 damning piece of all, the guy who's been following Lebron 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.400 James since he was in high school, my guy, Brian Windhorse, 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:00.520 Wendy mckwinderson, knowing where the winds are going. 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.560 Tom Ziller summed this up pretty nicely. He said, the 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:07.879 short version of all of this. 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.440 Through all of the fog, Lebron James made a push 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.119 to trade for Russell Westbrook in the offseason. That acquisition 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:17.479 has not helped the Lakers at all. The Lakers are 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.240 again at risk of missing the playoffs. Lebron is mad 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:23.000 about that and mad the team made no moves at 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:24.399 the deadline to shore up the roster. 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:27.160 Here's my thing, the Lakers aren't that interesting. 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.320 Lebron's position in all of this is completely unflattering, and 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:32.640 this is deep on the undercart of what's actually fun 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.760 about the NBA right now. And trust me, no one 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.280 finds Laker dysfunction more fun than me. 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:40.280 Nope, that's a lie I do. 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:45.080 I find Laker dysfunction to be an unfillable well of joy, 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:49.280 joy upon joy upon joy. And that's with me trying 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:51.879 to push P as hard as I possibly can for 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:57.439 my own mental welfare and appreciation of the world around me. 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:02.080 Gratitude like only Aaron Rodgers could find after a thirteen 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:05.880 day cleanse of just a butter diet and force vomiting. 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:08.199 That's the level of gratitude I'm trying to be on. 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:12.919 And yet nothing makes me happier than Laker dysfunction as 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:17.680 a Portland Trailblazer fan, I mean, basically, this is how 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:21.760 the second act of Cleveland went, coming off of a 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:24.919 championship loss and trying to get to the Caves to 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:28.120 go all in one more time, even if it might 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:29.720 put the franchise in a deep hole. 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:31.520 Mortgaging the future. 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:33.240 That they couldn't get out of for a very long 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:35.840 period of time, that would take them maybe a decade 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:38.320 to get out of, to crawl out of. So they 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:44.440 did the unthinkable. You've already got your chip, they told Lebron. No, Nope, 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:46.960 not gonna do that. We've got plenty of picks. We're 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:47.800 not trading them for you. 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:49.280 Uh. 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:50.120 This is the quote. 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:53.720 The Cavaliers did not trade future picks that became Darius 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:58.240 Garland twenty nineteen, Isaacacorro twenty twenty, and Evan Mobley twenty 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:00.800 twenty one. I'd say that was pretty smart for a 0:23:00.840 --> 0:23:03.119 franchise known for making pretty dumb moves. 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:06.840 They didn't trade their twenty twenty two pick to appease Lebron. 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:09.560 Instead, they traded it in the first James Harden deal 0:23:09.680 --> 0:23:13.280 to land Jared Allen, four of their five best players. 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:18.880 That Lebron James is basically slathering praise on about how 0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:22.639 good this franchise has been doing since his absence, and 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.800 yet that the only reason they had the opportunities to 0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:29.800 make those moves is because they told Lebron James absolutely 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:31.959 fucking not, we are not doing what you want us 0:23:31.960 --> 0:23:37.000 to do because you are going to leave anyway, and 0:23:37.040 --> 0:23:39.320 you might even have us make moves that we end 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:41.080 up not even getting pieces that put us over the 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:45.679 hump anyway. So now, against the all odds, the Calves 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:50.200 found themselves all the way back before the Lakers were 0:23:50.240 --> 0:23:53.159 back after they won it all. So now the Lakers 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:56.000 are finding out something that Cleveland found out a long 0:23:56.000 --> 0:24:01.720 time ago, that Broun as a GM. Bron as a 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:06.119 GM cripples your franchise for a very long time. And 0:24:06.200 --> 0:24:09.400 if you give him what he wants, that might actually 0:24:09.480 --> 0:24:12.359 expedite the process of him leaving because he doesn't make 0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:16.280 good decisions. And now not only have you made decisions 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:19.560 that end up forcing him to leave, now you have 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:22.679 nothing to build your franchise after he leaves in the 0:24:22.720 --> 0:24:26.919 wake of him piecing out for some other desirable location 0:24:27.040 --> 0:24:30.080 that he on a whim decides to go to. There 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:34.720