First Things First - LeBron to move on from Lakers, Kawhi approaching trade to Raptors, Expectations for USMNT?

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

(0:00) LeBron to leave Lakers, Will Kawhi Leonard leave for the Raptors? (22:50) Expectations for USMNT vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina? (31:55) Like the fit of LeBron on the Warriors or Heat? (42:04) Is LeBron’s legacy beyond criticism? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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How many fireworks are we expecting? Dax McCarty will be out here in just a little bit. We'll go over the World Cup Corner. And finally, the Heat, Cavs, Warriors, maybe a mystery team. Which of those destinations are fit for a king? We get to all of it. and more. Danny Parkins, Kevin O'Connor, Al Harrington with me. Thank you guys so much for the time on a busy day. Let's get to it. LeBron James, well, he's taking his talents elsewhere to be determined. Sean Shirani reporting that he told the Lakers he will not be returning to where the purple and gold this upcoming NBA season. NBA Free Agency officially begins as soon as we're off the air at 6 p.m. Eastern. They're waiting for us. Jeannie Bus put out a statement today reading. LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history.

We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers, including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances and the countless records he broke in purple and gold. We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family. And LeBron, with a little repost and a comment, no thank you. Truly an honor to wear the purple and gold while trying to continue to continue. trying to continuing the greatness and legacies that came before me. Hope I made a few proud during my stint. So there is a lot that we can get to here, guys.

And most of the most interesting things I do think are looking forward. But for a moment, I want to look at his time with the Lakers. It's eight years. It's a title. He breaks Kareem's scoring record. He takes the mic after Kobe Bryant tragically passes away and addresses the Lakers crowd. A lot of signature moments for LeBron as a Laker.

When they were coming off of, I had it here, the five years before he got there, 35 wins, 26 wins, 17 wins, 21, and 27 years. Sometimes there are bad feelings when LeBron leaves a franchise historically. KOC, I don't think that can be the case here. Lakers fans and the Lakers organization should be nothing but grateful to LeBron James.

I would agree with that, Danny. I remember back in 2017 when there were first rumblings about LeBron James going to L.A., that was at a time where the Lakers felt like they had no direction. And LeBron James gave them a direction. And it was about trying to compete, trying to contend. Getting Anthony Davis obviously led to the championship in 2020 in the bubble. And I'm going to look back at LeBron's career with the Lakers as, A, it's hard to believe he actually stayed there eight years, the longest stop of his entire career.

But be an overall success because he gave one of the Lakers. the NBA's marquee franchises, meaning purpose, we turn them into a winner every single year. And even though they only won one title in those eight years, I think it was overall a success. And I can't imagine Lakers fans will look at him down at all after decided to leave the softsies. I agree. I mean, when you think about what he did for this franchise, you know, he's just as, you know, I wouldn't say just as good as obviously some of the former Lakers. But when you look at just, you know, the eight years there, the impact that he had on winning,

the fact that to the point of when he got there in 2018, it got the conversation back to where it was supposed to be for a franchise like that about winning championships. And then obviously to win it in 2020, especially with everything that happened in 2020, obviously with even the great Kobe Bryant passing and delivering a championship to the city of Los Angeles, There was definitely a healing moment for the city, and he was a big reason for it. So I think that moving forward, even though he did win championships in Miami and in Cleveland, I think that a lot of people will look at him as a Laker. And, you know, there may be a small, small chance that maybe he'll get a statue outside of the crypto arena as well.

Yeah, Brew always jokes about all of the statues that they have in L.A. I don't know that I don't know that he'll get a statue. point out, it's not just about the counting steps, but if we put it up there and we put up how LeBron's Lakers tenure measures up to some of those other players, it is pretty remarkable where at this stage of his career, fourth and points. You've heard of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O'Neal, second and assist behind Magic, double doubles, magic, triple doubles, second to magic. Like, he is, some of those are per game stats, I understand, but just in terms of overall contributions to the Lakers.

I don't know that I will think of LeBron as a player of any singular team. Like he kind of was his own dynasty. He was his own era, which is what makes him special. But I still would say, Al, that he is an all-time Laker because of the title and those things that he accomplished. I'm telling you, don't be surprised. I'm telling you when it's all set and done and, you know, 10 years from now, when, you know, when we're, like, obviously still talking about him and, you know, seeing where the Lakers are and stuff like that.

I'm telling you, I wouldn't be surprised that, you know, because you're pointing, like, when you show those stats, the things that he was able to do in those eight years and just all the memories, you know, the fact that a lot of the records that he broke that are all-time records, he did that in Lakers, purple, and gold. And I'm telling you, that means something. That means something to the Lakers fans. That means something to the league in general. And it should mean something to the bus family and even a new ownership group of all the things that, you know, that he bought to that, to this city or to this franchise. guys. And I think along those lines, as Al was saying, with everything that he accomplished in Los Angeles, the precedent is there for the Lakers. Elgin Baylor has a statue. He did not win a ring with Los Angeles. And so there's a statue for Elgin Baylor because of his accomplishments as a player on the floor for the Lakers. And I think you obviously, the other guy, Shaq and Kareem and Magic and Kobe, those guys have the rings argument. But with the Ron James, I think there's a precedent there for him to have a statue. And obviously, without a doubt, the jersey. number will be retired. That's not even a conversation. But the statue, I think there's an argument, but I would lean towards he doesn't end up getting one. All right. Well, so then the-

which number. Yeah, which number? Yeah, sure. But the thing is, though, also, now they are left in this really interesting spot where they give Austin Reeves all of the money. Hey, they're finally going to build around Luca Donchich, which, you know, they should, fourth an MVP, led the league in scoring. As I was, the news breaks and I was thinking about what's next for the Lakers. I was reading a story from Dave McMenneman from less than two weeks ago, and it had a fascinating quote from a source close to Luca. Luca wants to be a championship team yesterday, a source close to Donchich said. Ever since the trade, they've always told us summer of 26. We'll show you in the summer of 26. So we are so excited that the summer of 26 is here. And quote,

Well, so now it's Luca, Austin Reeves, over 50 million in cap space, and Luca's desire for a center, for a lob threat. Everybody in the world is connecting them to Walker Kessler. Everyone in the world is connecting them. You know, maybe in a Mitchell Robinson. Obviously, Jalen Duren is going to be a very popular name. They could offer him, you know, four years and $170-something million. But restricted free agents don't leave.

My guess is the Pistons would not want to lose Jalen Duren, who averaged nearly 20 and 10 and was third team all NBA at 22 years old for nothing. So my gut tells me they're going to start building for depth and kind of nibble around the edges here and ultimately come up short for those bigs KOC. But it does feel like we will finally begin to see whatever the Lakers vision, if they even have a vision for what a Luca Donchich-centered Lakers team is. But as we sit here today, assuming they miss out on those centers, I will be expecting the Lakers to take a step back because LeBron James was still a top 20 player in the NBA last year. They very well could take a step back. And I mean, I would say, as that quote said from McMinneman, the summer of 26 is here. And the pressure is on Luca now that he is solely the face of the Lakers franchise and mostly on Rob Polinka. What is this master plan that Rob Polinka has?

been building towards. He punted this past year to put a team around these guys, Luca, Austin Reeves, and LeBron. So what actually is the move this offseason in which we've already seen some star players on the move? It is a very shallow free agent class. Is there a trade to be made? Are you investing in future draft capital? I don't know exactly what the right move is for the Lakers this off season, given the lack of appealing options out there. And as you rightfully said, Danny, those centers are restricted free agents. Those teams, both. both Utah and Detroit could match on Kessler and Duren. Do you think they would?

Do you think like, because Duren was awful in the play. He averaged 19 in the game in the regular season, third team all NBA, and then averaged 10 points per game in the playoffs. It was terrible. I still would think, even if the Lakers threw, like I said, four years and $175 million at Jalen Dern, I would assume that the Pistons would match. Would you KOC?

My sources have said that right now what's happening with the stuff about the Kings with Jailen Dern and the Lakers is just, Durran's camp trying to gain leverage. Okay. Because the Pistons have made a low offer. So I would expect the Pistons would match the offer that's out there for Jaila Duren. This has been a failed, so far, free agency, uh, 26 for the lake. It's just, you know, let's just call a spade of spade.

Um, you know, obviously, you know, signing Austin Reed was, you know, a priority of theirs. But, you know, that does not put them in position to talk about winning a championship. And, you know, to Lucas, you know, point that, you know, 2026 is what they've been telling him. He now, all the pressures on him. You know, obviously leaving LeBron, having LeBron leave the team, there's nobody else that they can point fingers at.

There's nobody else that can do an interview. And unfortunately thing about the Lakers, the Lakers are like a lot like the Knicks and like the Cowboys, right? They're going to be on sports talk shows every single day, every single day, every single week. And if they're not winning, it's going to be blame point all around, which is going to be mostly at Luca and at Rob Polinka.

And, you know, obviously with the new ownership group in there, I think that if this season doesn't start off well, I think there's going to be some major changes in this organization. But, you know, with Luca, I actually feel bad for him because, you know, this summer, they're just not the guys there that can have the impact that he would need to be able to get the Lakers to the next level and be able to compete for a championship, which is the reason why he's there. So that actually brings us to the LeBron decision because maybe LeBron's just like he wants to win. And I found this, and this is a little bit of like how the sausage is made inside baseball and KOC breaks plenty of stories so he knows this. When a guy like Shams tweets something, the wording is specific. Like sometimes when the agent gets credited in the tweet, it's because the agent said, credit me in the tweet. So people know how much I made. Like if we throw up how the wording came out about this, it even gave us a little bit of a pause in the office.

Like, did we read this correctly? But he says, LeBron James will continue his NBA career for the 26-27 season. and has informed the Los Angeles Lakers that the franchise can move on without him. That is like an interesting way of saying. That's a weird way of wording that. But it's like, hey, Lakers, oh, you want to turn it over? I got no problem with Luca. I got no problem with Austin Reeves.

I'm not saying that. That's not what I'm reporting. But go right ahead. See if the grass is greener on the other side. And LeBron is going to go try to find a different basketball challenge. And I got to be honest, I'm a little surprised by it because I thought that LeBron at this stage of his life, his business interests are in L.A., he's built his forever home in L.A. His wife and kids are in L.A. His son is on the Lakers. He's an all-time leading score. He's won a championship everywhere he went. I didn't think there was another challenge out there for LeBron. And he really did want to play the rest of his basketball career with his son on the team. playing meaningful minutes as Brony turns himself into a legitimate NBA player, which he clearly had over the course of this season. But I think KOC, it looks like LeBron looked around and said,

I don't know, I can be a bigger factor with a ball in my hands for a team in a better position elsewhere, and LeBron is the one who ultimately initiated this. I mean, look, what we saw towards the end of the season when Luca Reeves and LeBron were all healthy was pretty amazing. It was. It looked incredible. It was. And so we saw, a flash of what it could look like. However, I also think if you're LeBron James, a lot of that was watching Luca Donchurch dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, and so if you're LeBron James, you're probably thinking, well, I want to go to a team where I can still get touches and I can still feel like

I'm not just watching Luca dominate and be the guy in Golden State sharing the ball, motion, movement, cutting. Nobody's just dominating the ball. I'd imagine that would have appeal for him. Cleveland, I'm sure, would have appeal. being a guy that would be an important piece there to go back. But ultimately, I think the Warriors are where he's going to go. And I think that's by far the most likely destination. And I'd imagine from a pure basketball standpoint, that would have more appeal to him playing there

rather than with that Lakers situation with Lucas style of play. I think if Lucas shared the ball and moved off ball a little bit more, it'd be more appealing to LeBron. But ultimately, I mean, like, Al, you know this as a player. Like, sometimes, like, it's nice just to get a touch and not just watch the guy dribble the air out of the ball. And I'm sure that's part of it for LeBron. I think this came down to ego for LeBron.

You know, I think that when we look at over the course of the season, there's a lot of different times where, you know, I feel like LeBron felt like he was being disrespected. I think there was like a game ball. I can't remember what he accomplished at the day where they actually gave the game ball to, you know, to J.J. Reddick. I mean, you think about times, you know, there was times we highlighted during the season where, you know,

other teams were going on runs, you know, JJ would call a timeout, and LeBron would be, you know, lollygagging with the other team's bench instead of in the huddle. I feel like there's been trouble in Paradise this entire season to the point of, you know, LeBron is obviously very professional, he's a very good player, and I think that for him ego-wise, I think that's why he took it so personal in that first round to win that first round series by himself to just show people like he still got it. But I think that he's definitely at the time. the point where he's decided like this is his last year playing and he wants to do what's going to make him happy.

And I think what's going to make him happy ultimately is going to play with Steph Curry, you know, trying to revisit what they did, you know, with the USA team and see if they can win a championship together. Okay, so that is, let's just do that hypothetical here for a second because I know, I know, Al, you're going to be here later. We're going to go through all of the possible teams. KOC, we've got you for another five or six minutes. But let's say LeBron ends up in Golden State where you guys both think he's going.

But Anthony Davis is not there, right? Because they signed Porzingis, and it seems like Anthony Davis has not come. So if it's a like a Porzingis, Steph, Draymond, LeBron team, and that's the starting five in Golden State. And then there's the Luca, Austin Reeves, and whatever the Lakers put around them with over 50 million in cap space. Which is the better basketball team? Because I buy LeBron.

I would have more fun playing with his friends, Steph and Dremont. But I don't know that it is a guarantee that the Warriors are better than the Lakers next year. Kevin. It's not a guarantee. I mean, I think there's a lot of still uncertainty with the Lakers on how they're going to fill out that roster as well with shooters and with the center. Whereas with this Warriors roster, they do still have pretty good depth. There's some solid guys off the bench as well on that team. They drafted the Axel Lindenborg, a 24-year-old rookie D. Santos, solid depth on that team as well. But ultimately, I'd feel a lot better about the Warriors if they did flip Jimmy Butler for Anthony Davis. I know Anthony,

but like to me, that was part of it. When I reported that, on Sunday, it was LeBron plus AD was the Warriors' intentions. And that seems to have changed in the day since. So if it's just LeBron James and then maybe Jimmy Butler and what, February, where are you in the standings at that point? If LeBron and Steph and Dremont are missing games here and there and Jimmy Butler, who knows if he needs a ramp up when he comes back, there are legitimate questions about how good that Warriors team could be compared to a Luca-driven team

with the ball in his hands. We know there's a high floor for a team like that. whereas the Warriors, they've been in the plan literally every year for the last four years now. I mean, I like the Warriors. I still just think there's a lot of questions out there regarding Luca in, like, one, availability, and then obviously leadership, right? But then I also can flip that over to the Golden State side, too, is the fact that with LeBron at the age that he is, you know, Steph Curry would be 39 years old this season. Jermont's getting a little older. They all talk about the speed of the game, and I think it's because,

because of the speed of the game that now at this point in their career, they keep getting hurt all the time, right? So because of that, you know, I think that both sides, you know, it's like a 50-50 thing, but I would say I would pick the Warriors just because of, you know, the veteran leadership because all those guys have championship pedigree, and when it comes down to it, they know how to win and they know how to get things done and they know how to piece together a five or 10-game win street when they have to. So because of that, you know, I would definitely side.

with the Warriors being a better team overall, no matter who they signed, to be honest, on the Lakers. Wow. All right. Well, there is another piece of breaking news out of Los Angeles. Shams also reporting that the Clippers are nearing a deal to send Kauai Leonard back to Toronto in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Grady Dick, two first round picks. At one time this trade was reported to just have one first in it, a pick swap and two second rounders. Kauai, of course, spent one season in Toronto with the Raptors.

It was pretty good. He won the NBA championship when he was there. This feels like a trade that makes a ton of sense for both teams. Al, I guess I will start with you when you saw that there is a homecoming for Kawhi Leonard to Toronto. What was your reaction? This is an interesting move there. I think Toronto has some really good young pieces. You see the way that they battle with the Cavs this year and the playoffs taking them to a game seven. Obviously, Kauai is a special talent.

He's a two-time champion. Both times he won the championship. He played with other great players and he was the MVP. So he is a guy that can propel that team to the next level. And then you think about the Eastern Conference, you know, it's a little bit more of an even playing field. So you add a Kauai, you know, to the Toronto Raptors. Now they have a chance to, you know, get to the Eastern Conference final. So I like the move for Toronto, especially when you look at, you know, what they're

currently have. And, you know, for, you know, for Kauai, it just seems like it's probably just a better time for him to get out of L.A. and do something different because just the Clippers experiences, you know, just didn't really work or didn't pan out the way I think, you know, he did or the organization. Definitely couldn't have expected this return for Kauai, Leonard, one year ago if you were the Los Angeles Clippers. Even early in the season, November, December, there's no chance. No. You could have anticipated getting this. I mean, it looked bad when he first came back from that injury earlier in the season. So good for the Clippers to get this.

Move on from Kauai Leonard, that whole drama this last half decade. Good for them. But for the Raptors at the same time, this is a win to get him because this is an elite defense. That what were they missing in that game seven loss against Cleveland was an end of game score, a guy who could get a bucket for you. And Kauai Leonard is still elite at that from three point range or mid range, getting to the rim. And so Kauai Leonard adds precisely what the Raptors were missing on the offensive end, while also not disturbing their defensive DNA. And so I think he fits perfectly into this Raptors team really accelerates things for them and puts them in position to be one of the top teams.

And it increasingly loaded Eastern Conference. The East is looking good all of a sudden. And so I think for the Raptors, this is a worthy risk, even though Kauai is 35, even though he's getting an extension. I love them going for it. I love the aggression. I'm with you. This is overly simplistic, but I do want to just put Kauai Leonard's points and percentages on the screen for anyone who wasn't totally locked in. The dude average 28 points a game on nearly 50, 40, 90 splits, and he just turned 35 years old.

He made second team all NBA. Kauai was fantastic. He qualified. He played enough games, 60, 3. He just hit the threshold to qualify for postseason awards, and he was voted a top 10 player in the NBA, and no one debated it. Everyone was like, yeah, Kauai Leonard was a top 10 player in the NBA last year. So it's like a mercenary trade. Yes, they're paying a lot in terms of capital for a 35-year-old player, but he was there for one year before, and he delivered a championship.

They're saying, Janice is staying east. LeBron might become an east, who knows. And Boston will see what happens with Jalen Brown. see what happens with the Knicks. Toronto, I easily could see them being a top four seed in the Eastern Conference. And then if Kauai is healthy, he's one of the great playoff performers. Kevin O'Connor, thank you, as always. We appreciate the time.

Al, I know you're hanging around. But we are going to go to World's Cup Corner next, where we are expecting fireworks from Team USA tomorrow. Dax McCarty joins the show coming up. And the countdown clock is on. Mexico and Ecuador from Mexico City, just over three and a half hours away. the winner faces either England or DR Congo in Mexico City on July 5th. Mexico, Ecuador coming up in just over three and a half hours on Fox. The excitement of the FIFA World Cup is now streaming live on Fox One,

the official English streaming platform to catch every unforgettable moment. Fox One brings the action straight to your screen so you never miss a goal. Download Fox One and experience the FIFA World Cup live. The knockout stage is off to a great start so far. far and Fox has even more for you. Catch Chef Nick, after hours with James Corden, our FIFA World Cup correspondent, James Winston, and more on our YouTube pages. Fox has got it all for you on Fox, but also we love countdown clock here at Fox, and everyone

should implement more of countdown. Look at these fans. They're like three and a half hours. It's me nine and a half hours. They've been partying all day. Mexico and Ecuador from Mexico City, just over three and a half hours away coming up on Fox. Welcome back to first thing's first overtime. Dax McCarty joins me now in the World's Cup Corner. Let's talk with knockout round action. USA taking on Bosnia tomorrow, 8 o'clock Eastern on Fox.

So far, this knockout stage has presented us with game winners, upsets, and a lot of penalty kicks. I feel like we're getting penalty kicks all over the place. U.S. Men's National team captain, Tim Riem, was asked about the preparation for those scenarios ahead of tomorrow's match. Take a little bit. We're fully prepared. I saw something the other day, I think it was yesterday, that, you know, obviously we covered more distance than any team in the tournament so far. So I think that says a lot about where we are physically, which also says a lot about where we are mentally. So I think we're, yeah, we're absolutely where we want to be and ready to go for whatever happens. There is some school of thought that Bosnia...

Iron me up, Tim. Yeah, that Bosnia is just going to... to try to just get to PKs, right? Right, because it increased the randomness as a big underdog here. So take it any direction. Your expectations for the U.S. tomorrow? Yeah, well, my expectations are for the U.S.

men's national team to win the game. That's pretty plain and simple. Now, in order to get there, I think a couple things have to happen. The first of which was exactly what we have been seeing coming out of the U.S. men's national team camp all week long. Respect your opponent, which is something that we quite, quite frankly, haven't always seen from, I think, national media with, regard to how difficult of an opponent Bosnia is going to be.

Yeah, we're probably not helping when it's like, you've got to get to the quarterfinals, you're a huge favorite here. But that is what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to set what our expectations are for this team, and internally, they can either block it out, they can read there, they can get a little bit maybe too high or too low. But they have to block all that noise out, and they have to respect their opponent, which they absolutely have. They know that Bosnia is going to provide a stiff test.

And if the knockout stage has taught us anything through five, games, I think six going on right now with France, Sweden. It's that the margins are extremely thin. It doesn't matter if you're the overwhelming favorite. It doesn't matter if you're the underdog. Everybody has a chance at the World Cup to do something special. Bosnia should be no different. I love the messaging coming out of the U.S. men's national team camp right now. But the other side of it is you have to start the game quick. I would love to see the U.S. men's national team continue this trend of starting the game on the front foot with a lot of energy. Tim Rheim talked about how they've ran the most in the competition, that really manifests itself in a lot of dangerous chances in

the beginning of the game. They've scored two goals very early when all of their starting 11 had played. Even when their reserves came into the game against Turkey 8, they scored an early goal. That sets the tone. That gets the crowd involved in the game. It gets everybody confident in wanting to play. My big question mark for this game is what happens against Bosnia if it doesn't go your way? How do you respond if you don't score an early goal? I really love all the different messaging coming out of the U.S. men's national team camp right now. So the messaging is one thing, but I always try to delineate between like actions and words. Yep.

Do you think Brazil overlooked Japan? They're down one nothing? Like, yeah. Or we can say there isn't that big of a talent gap anymore, right? We saw it with Germany getting the upset. We saw Netherlands with their strategy. Like anybody can beat anyone on any given day. There are not that many scoring opportunities in soccer.

It increases the randomness. It's obviously now single elimination. We are in the knockout round. So I feel like the messaging is one thing. But what are you going to be looking for in terms of actions early in the game to be like, oh, okay, good. They're not overlooking this team. How do the U.S. manage transition moments from Bosnia? I think the U.S. men's national team is absolutely going to dominate possession in this game.

You're going to see a very similar contrast in game plan to what happened in the first two games. Against Paraguay, U.S. men's national team dominated possession, dominated chances. against Australia, the U.S. men's national team dominated possession, dominated chances, but their defensive structure, their repress, the coordination of the centerbacks and the defenders and the midfielders to go hunt the ball as soon as they lost it. That is the platform from which this team has been successful in this tournament. They have absolutely suffocated opponents, to Tim Rheem's point, about running more, and that is a mindset. That is a mentality that's excellent coaching. Bosnia, they aren't going to provide you a massive threat when they have.

the ball in possession. But with their wingers, they have two very young, dynamic, tricky, technical wingers in Alebegovich and Esmir Bajrakhtarvich, who they can cause you problems. If you're a little bit loose in your rest defense, if you lose track of them, if you lose the ball, if you're sloppy in possession, it's absolutely a problem for the U.S. men's national team. And the other area is set pieces. Bosnia is actually the tallest team in the tournament by average height. They are absolutely going to look for set piece opportunities. They're going to look to take advantage of any chance they can get to throw numbers in the box and just create chaos. So I'm going to show you two graphics, and then I have a question for you on the back end of it,

because what you're going to say is that this is not helpful. But I'm not trying to help, I'm just trying to contextualize it. To me, it feels like these are two teams that are in just different classes of programs, which is why the U.S. is such a big favorite. And to your point, it reminds me of the Paraguay and the Australia game. Like, Bosnia's ranking in terms of possessions and shots. It's very similar to the first two matches where the U.S. won 4-1 and 2-0 and controlled both of those games. Turkey 8 is a clear outlier in terms of the first four opponents.

And then if you take it a step further with the U.S. against Bosnia, and you look at what it has been over the last year, the U.S. has three top 20 wins. Bosnia has one. The U.S. has seven top 50 wins, according to the FIFA ranking. Yeah. Bosnia has two. eight top 100 wins. Bosnia's wins are against the bad teams, and three of their wins in the last year are from teams ranked outside of the top 100.

So it feels like based on resume, talent, stylistic, these teams are in different classes. I guess my question is, if Bosnia gets the early goal and goes up one-nothing, and if a call goes against the U.S., and there's a bad luck yellow card and frustration comes in, whatever the case may be, it feels like the market. margin of error should still be in their favor, that even if a few things go poorly, the U.S. should be able to still win the game. They should, because I agree with you. They are the better team for all the reasons that you just listed there, but also because

they experienced a little bit of adversity in that game against Turkey A. And I know that there was a rotated team, and it was a lot of reserves playing and not a ton of the guys who I expect to start the game. But that still manifests itself in the reaction in the second half. That was a great reaction in the second half from the U.S. men's national team. The way that they went after the game, the mentality. to go after Turkey A, a very good Turkey A team. Bosnia is not going to present the same type of threats,

but this game is going to come down to a couple of the different factors. And I promise you that this is not bulletin board material. This is just objectively what I see as almost inarguable. The U.S. men's national team is more talented. They've got numerous players playing in the Uaafi Champions League. They're more experienced. This is Bosnia-Herzegovina's first situation where they will be in a knockout stage game in the World Cup.

The U.S. men's national team has that experience already. After losing to the Netherlands, 13 players returning, they already have the experience of what a big game feels like. They have the better coach, and that's no disrespect to Sergei Barberes. But Murcia Pocetino, one of the best coaches in the world, Barbara is actually, funily enough, is his first coaching job. He used to be a professional poker player. Just a little fun fact. Shuffle up and deal. I'm sure Nick Wright would love that one.

And then they are... He's a semi-professional. They are playing at home. That is the main factor. The U.S. Men's National Team is playing at a... home in front of the wonderful fan base that we have. There are no excuses for the U.S. men's national team to not win this game. Okay.

You've just provided Bolton Board. I don't think so. I don't think I have. Well, you can't say on the front end, I don't want this to be bulletin board material. It actually attracts the bulletin boards. LeBron James, we know he's taking his talents back to South Beach or to Northeast Ohio. It's kind of the same. We'll discuss all the destinations for LeBron coming up.

And we have passed the three and a half hour mark, Mexico and Ecuador from Mexico. City. Mexico won three straight games in the group stage for their first time ever. That game coming up tonight on Fox. Tomorrow, Christian Policic and Team USA takes on Bosnia, Herzegovina. You can catch it all tomorrow, 8 o'clock Eastern on Fox. Welcome back to the OT. Al Harrington is back with us. LeBron today told the Lakers he will not be returning next season. So, Sham Sharania reports. that teams such as the calves, the heat, the warriors, they're all expected to begin their pursuit of LeBron James. These are the official odds for LeBron's next home.

The Spurs, a dark horse 20-to-1 team on the list. But let's go through some of these, Allen's start in Cleveland, where LeBron started his career, left, came back, brought home a trophy. If he were to join the Cavs, it's fun to project what a starting five would look like. This is barring no other trades of the core guys. Alan and Mowbly in the front court, James Hardin, Donovan Mitchell, LeBron James. James Hardin reportedly is interested in doing some things for salary flexibility right now. So the idea of LeBron returning to Cleveland, I'll be honest, I love it.

I think it's storybook, where it began, where it ends. You do things with Max Struess and Dennis Schrooter to free of. up some money. You figure out a little bit, a way to get a little bit more perimeter defense in there. James Harden and Donovan Mitchell spread the floor. Yes, Hardin likes the ball in his hands. Yes, Mitchell likes the ball in his hands. I know that. But Mobley and Allen is an elite defensive front court. You're in the Eastern Conference and you can bookend your career. I think Cleveland makes a ton of sense to actually win. I know we're going to talk about the storybook stuff and the fun of playing with some of these other teams. But in terms of

a path to winning a title, I actually think Cleveland is the one that makes the most sense to win immediately. It makes a lot of sense. I think we talked about this, you know, when they were in the playoffs and playing against the Knicks, like what were they missing, right? And a guy like LeBron is definitely someone that you would consider that they're missing, right? He obviously is an ultimate facilitator. He's a leader. He's a champion, right?

And that's what those guys are honestly missing. And to your point of like the fact that James wants to be able to. the ball in his hands and Donner wants to ball in their hands. And the playoffs, they've shown that like when the game gets a little tight, they're willing to pass it off to somebody else. And, you know, LeBron would be the perfect guy for that to happen, especially with the way that this team is constructed. They do have shooters everywhere.

They do have big guys down low that can, one, you know, their lob threats on the defensive side. They can cover up a lot of mistakes for all three of those guys because all three of them at this point in their careers are a little lack of dazacal. the defense event and have their issues. So I do like Cleveland as a last stop for him because I have to believe that this 24th season will be his last season. And I feel like in the Eastern Conference playing with that team, especially the last two years,

the regular seasons that they've been able to have, definitely adding him to that would definitely put them in a position to really compete for a championship. Well, I see, I know we're all, you know, day to day. So LeBron is year to year. but maybe he's going to play 25 years and he's going to a team now for the next two. Why not? If you can make it 24, you can make it 25. Let's go to another option for LeBron as we imagine this.

Could he be taking his talents back to South Beach? You know, that phrase is just going to get repeated. It's coming back. The starting five in Miami, hypothetical, Al would look a little something like this now that Andrew Wiggins is back in the fold. Davian Mitchell, LeBron, Andrew Wiggins, and you want to talk about a defensive front court, Janice and Bam. You like this reunion for LeBron?

Well, let's start with that. That's a top two defensive team right there. We look at those guys, right? They'll be very tough to score on them on a night and night out basis. My only concern with this team is the shooting. You know what I'm saying? I know they have Norman Powell. You know, Bobby Portis came over, so they do have a couple guys that can make shots. But there I'm just kind of concerned on how the ball would be spread around. But, you know, this one, another one that can make a lot of sense. You know, obviously when he left Miami, he didn't leave in good graces, especially with Pat Riley.

And I know that Pat Rowley made that move for Janus to try to win right now. So I can see him definitely being super aggressive trying to bring LeBron back in the fold. Because if you put LeBron back in Miami with those guys, you put LeBron pretty much anywhere. You give yourself a chance to win at the highest, you know, at the highest level, and which is, you know, trying to compete for a championship. LeBron's a basketball genius.

He makes everybody better, right? It is a remarkable thing. If he's still a top 20 player in the league, he was 21, 7 and 7 last year. His numbers went up in the playoffs. They won a playoff series. Clearly he makes any team better at this stage. It is interesting that LeBron would, like, be the basic for Miami.

Like, there's, there's, Andrew Wiggins had an amazing three-point shooting year, Sam likes to shoot the threes. But I wonder how much in this would be, okay, LeBron, you've got to be the facilitator and we need you to be a 40% three-point shooter. There's just not enough spacing and enough shooting there where I think it would be fun. I think it would be interesting. They obviously would be better.

But I don't think it's the best year one basketball fit because of what you're talking about. But all right, let's say LeBron. Go ahead, Al. Sorry. No, no, no. I was just going to agree with you. You know, this is probably my third. best opportunity for him in my mind. But, you know, him down in Miami, you know, obviously

he got a championship coach, you know, Pat Riley's definitely, you know, you think about even back in the day when he bought the beat to me down there every year, they were signing one-year deals with super impactful players. So he knows how to navigate a storm like this. So, you know, if he did choose to go down there, I'm sure Pat Riley can figure out how to make sure that they were competitive. All right, well, let's just say LeBron wanted to get out of L.A., but he's just hell bet on staying in California. Reports yesterday were the Warriors were pursuing LeBron and Anthony Davis. Today, Chris Haynes is saying it looks like Anthony, the Wizards are not interested in trading for AD.

The Warriors end up signing Porzingis. But Golden State is still the heavy favorite to land LeBron's services in Vegas. So this is now what the Imagine starting five would look like no AD but swap in. Porzingis, a lot of age, a lot of injury risk, Al. Do you like LeBron in Golden State with that being the Corps 5? Do I like it? Honestly, no. I don't like it.

I don't want to see him and Steph Curry on the same team. Wow. For my own personal reason, I just, I don't know. I just feel like they're supposed to always be competing against each other. They're not supposed to be playing together. But I also did watch the Olympics. And I saw how exciting it was watching those two go out there and, you know, play beautiful basketball.

LeBron said on his podcast before that that Steph was the one guy he wanted to play with, and then after he played with Steph, he said it was like perfect basketball. Like he clearly loves playing with Steph Curry. I think it's something there. There's something in the water, right? When you think about Drey Ma opting out, which obviously gave them flexibility to go out and sign somebody, right? When you look at like who's out there to sign, I think LeBron's the only guy that kind of fits their needs right now. So I think that right now they probably have a one-up out of all the teams currently to land them.

And if they do get together, it will be fun basketball to watch. But I still don't think that that team constructed the way it is right now will be enough to win the championship or even get out the West. I agree. I don't think that team can win big. I think if he does that, it is why a lot of people take jobs late in their careers because you want to hang out with your friends and have fun. So I'm not going to begrudge him it, but I don't think he can win. All right, I'm going to give you one out. Let's just turn off realism here for a second.

Okay? This is probably not going to happen. What about LeBron James going to Washington? Here's the case. Anthony Davis is one of his best friends in the NBA. They won a title together. They just drafted A.J. DeBanza, who people think is a do-everything player who's going to be relevant in the league for 15 years. I could see the narrative of like LeBron taught me how to be a pro,

and in the year 2050, AJ is still talking about LeBron's impact on him. LeBron has been praising Trey Young's game since the McDonald's All-American game. The quotes are all over the Internet of how much LeBron believes in Trey Young. Sarr, Kianti George, Trey Johnson, athleticism, front court defense along with AD, depth, and bonus thing here, he can go to Washington like Jordan did except do it better at the end of his career. It's probably not going to happen. I'm just saying it makes some sense if you think about it. I got two words.

Hell no. Okay. He has to worry about his legacy, right? And when you think about Cleveland, he started there, one, Miami, and then to the Lakers, he can't go to the Wizards after that. I'll say no way, no shot. All right, well, I tried to sell you on it. It almost assuredly will not have.

Also, you go to the East, the easier conference. Their head coach was an assistant with the Lakers in the lead-up before they ended up winning the title. I'm just saying it's, if it doesn't happen, this clip never makes it to the internet. If it happens, I'm a genius. Yeah, right. You're the guy. I'm not, yeah, staking out that corner of things that's never going to happen. All right, I'll give you my final thoughts.

Ten minutes ahead of free agency opening on LeBron leaving the Lakers. The countdown clock, though, is going. Three hours and nine minutes. Mexico, Ecuador, from Mexico City. Knockout round us here. Check it out tonight on Fox. Hey, y'all's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what a,

Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.com, every style, every home. Countdown clock off and running. Mexico, Ecuador tonight.

9 o'clock Eastern knockout stage is here. Check it out on Fox. The winner faces England or DR Congo on July 5th. Well, the news of the day, LeBron James told the Lakers that he will not be returning for the upcoming season. And we don't yet know where he is going. But what I do think is worth mentioning and pointing out right now is that wherever he goes, whether it's Golden State, Miami, Cleveland, or somewhere else,

LeBron has entered the post-criticism stage of his career. I mean, honestly, at this point, he leaves Cleveland to Miami. People didn't like it. Fine. He goes to four championships. He wins, too. He writes the wrong. he goes back to Cleveland, he delivers a title, then he goes to L.A. and delivers them a title.

He's literally won everywhere he's gone. And if you still have criticism for a 22-time All-Star, who is 21-time All-NBA player with four titles and four MVPs, who's the all-time scoring leader, who was playing meaningful NBA minutes with his son this year. One of the most remarkable things we have ever seen. He's playing with his son, and we're like, you know what, I need a new challenge. It's unbelievable that LeBron is still a difference-making franchise-altering player at this stage of his career. So I have to imagine that wherever he goes, there's actually not going to be criticism that follows this move. Tomorrow will be on after Belgium and Senegal. Thanks for staying with us on the OT.