Gil's Arena - Gil's Arena Debates JJ Redick's BEST Lakers Roster & LeBron's Latest Decision Part 1

Episode Date: September 25, 2026

Gilbert Arenas, Danny Green, Baron Davis and Josiah Johnson bring you the best NBA show on the planet! This episode the couch discusses JJ Reddick best laker roster, Expectations of Luka Era Lakers, Lebron Laker legacy and the truth of his next chapter being in Philly + more!   Presented by Polymarket - the world's largest prediction market. Use code ARENA when you sign up for a $50 bonus with a qualifying deposit of $10. https://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/ARENA 18+ Only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. See http://polymarket.com/tos for more information. The Polymarket US App serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing, the CFTC-regulated exchange and clearing organization.    Follow Gil's Arena on socials: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/gilsarena0/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GilsArena0 Threads - https://www.threads.com/@gilsarena0 Twitter/X - https://x.com/GilsArenaShow Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/gilsarenashow TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@gilsarena TimeStamps: 0:00 - Cast Intro 06:21 - Are the Lakers Contenders or Pretenders27:10 -Which role player on the lakers will be a great complimentary piece37:13 - Can Austin Reaves be a 2nd option on a contender 47:00-Rob Pelinka praises Lebron era Lakers 48:10-Lebron Laker legacy59:30-Lebron speaks on decision to join sixersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin Unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed. People wake up and go, oh, damn, wait a moment, hold up. They change all of that. Yes. It's real. This is a wholesale attack. It is targeting black people in every federal agency.

It's raw. Why folks have never allowed that reckoning to last more than a decade. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. And download Roland Martin Unfiltered on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Is there an epidemic against literature? More specifically, black literature. I'm Jack Quist-Peace Thomas,

and on this season of the Black Litts podcast, we're outside asking why. They don't want a whole bunch of little Ella Bakers, Michael Rexes and Martin Luther King running around. And when you look at a lot of different cultures, they're like, we need to know where you came from. And considering this is Black Reading Month, the only real question is,

what are you reading next? Listen to Black Lit from the Black Effect Podcast Network on our Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me in former NFL quarterback Matt Castle. Every Wednesday on our podcast, lots to say with me, Bobby Bones and Matt Castle.

You're in training camp, and the rookie quarterback has one good throwing session in front of the media. Suddenly, everybody online says he should start over you week one. How do you handle this? You just go back out to practice the next day, and wait for him to mess up. Listen to lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle

on the IHeart Radio. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What up? This Jay Valentine, co-host of the R&B Money Podcasts alongside my brother, R&B legend, Tank. Together, we've built a space for artists, executives, and fans of R&B music to reminisce and tell the real stories behind the music. I have no money. I was Hood famous. They think you're going to get everybody out.

We lived in a project. Real love came out. They're hearing the music, and we had nothing. From Smokey Robinson to Mary Jay Blige, B2K to Jill Scott. If you're a super dedicated R&B fan, this is where you belong. Listen to R&B Money from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to Gills Arena, presented by Polly Market and Powered by Playmaker. Whoa, whoa!

Glorious Friday, five days a week. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here every day of the week for y'all. Feels good here today. The energy's good, the mood. I don't know what's going on, but everything feels... Friday. Feels perfect up in here. So I'm merely a host, Josiah Johnson, here with NBA legend.

UK.K. Unk with badges. Gilbert Arenas. Gilbert Arinas. Gil. Gil. What you had, dog? I'm going to be real with y'all chat. I may or may not have dropped the dime on Gil.

We may not be seen him for a while. But don't worry we got you covered here in the show. But on the couch today, we got NCAA champion of the world. Three-time NBA champion of the world. When he's not in the arena, you can check out his Inside the Green Room podcast. or catch him calling Lakers games. Danny Green.

Welcome back. Appreciate you, man. It's always good to be back. We appreciate you. Longside royalty. I know Gil will be here soon. I don't know if we will. I hope not.

Had to drop the dime on it. On this side of the couch, one of the greatest hoopers to come out of L.A., former third overall pick out of UCLA, who went on to play 13 seasons in the league where he was a two-time All-Star, and you can see him starring in the new film Last Shot, premiering in theaters, October 2nd. Baron Davis, welcome back at the Hills, Arena.

In the theaters, boys. Last shot at the LA Film Festival, October 2nd? Man, it's incredible, man. Basketball movie about an A.U. Kid who reconnects with his mom, moving from L.A. to Nashville. So it's like a country music manager. And it's really, like, it's cool because I like a lot of my AAU kids,

and their parents can relate to, you know, just the relationship between, you know, being a young kid trying to figure out your life in transition and a mom that never had a kid before. So, and I play the coach. There you go. Congrats. Oh, man. I appreciate that.

That's dope, man. Last shot. Hold on. I thought you was going to be put away, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the set, bro. Okay. Making his non-punctional interest. You know, when we get into.

We get them new drops. Okay. I got a little kid again. Okay. Welcome Gil's Arena. Gil's arena hit show. Gil, what you got in your hands right now? Asian Ray's new drops.

No, those are hard. The Asian boy. Yes. The harder volume kids. Got his own P.E. They just dropped the day and he called me and said, yo, unc. I didn't feel offended. You called your aunt.

Drop off the new ones and you put them on the show. I said, yeah. How many pairs did he drop off? You know we wear the same size. Just one. You know, Asian. You won't be getting it. Asian.

You'll get a little. I was just happy to get mine. The Adidas Hardin, volume 10, Ray's. I ain't going to buy it. A popular streamer, Ray Asian boy. Ray is the first streamer with his own

player exclusive shoot. Yes. That's crazy. And Gil has him on his feet. On his feet. Just dropped. Like, you know, like, when you used to get it.

It was hard. I love getting some shit early My Adidas plug If you were watching the show right now You can't get these You got the name address A dress has not changed You gotta get your shit tomorrow

Man of consistency Yeah I might get them by the end of the show Man you got to know him personally Didn't he beat you one on one? Never Did he stop that game? No No I didn't stop down I beat it

Yeah Almost look I always let the streamers Like get close You got to give him a little confidence, right? Get him close. Yeah, it's good for content. The Ray, Asian boys. That was killing.

No, this is fire. Art and volume champ. New J. H. Flosives. Look good, yeah. Nice. You guys. Fun and styling.

Thank you for coming to your show. We got a lot to get into. Here's what's cracking in Gil's arena today. J.J. Reddick says for the first time as Lakers head coach, the roster pieces actually fit together. But are the purple and gold contenders, or pretenders heading into the Luca Donchick era. LeBron spoke on his decision to join the Sixers

on his latest Mind the Game podcast. Will the King help bring a ring to the process before he hangs them up? And after becoming the second youngest rookie of the year, Cooper Flag and the Mabs are looking to bounce back this season. How much will a healthy Kyrie move the needle in Dallas? And ladies gentlemen, mostly fans back, but exclusively for our super chat.

So throw something in the offering plate and drop your questions. And we'll pick some to answer at the end of the show. You guys have been very supportive of the show these past few days. We've got the lovely green screen now. Spare no expense. So make sure y'all drop your questions in the super chat. But, hey, I need to tell y'all about this new sports trading app I discovered.

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Everywhere you want to be, Gills Arena, in motion like the ocean. So shout out to everybody watching on Twitch. If you have not done so already, subscribe to our Twitch channel at Gills Arena Show. Appreciate you. y'all for the sub so we're going to get right into it we got die hard lekers fan current lacrosse employee congrats you are you with us yeah yeah i've been with you job you're like a little more insuffillated position but yeah wait you don't watch the game i was doing some in studio last year with spectrum sports yeah you don't support spectrum sports net i mean that's not part of the lakers

no it is the leakers network it's the leakers net one really mad come on show now i'm gonna call on some of the games this year. You got a name. You got a big. You got a great. Let's go. Billy Max, Stu Lance,

Mike Trudell. Shout out Rocky Theis as well. We've been doing some sideline reporting. Y'all got a good crew over there. Yeah, it's a great crew, man. But I'll be watching the Sixers, but I will support y'all from a distance.

But Lakers training camp opens next week. But Rob Polink and JJ Redick spoke with the media Thursday in anticipation of the Luca Donchic era officially tipping off. Reddick is entering his third season with the purple and gold,

becoming the first Lakers head coach with back-to-back 50-win seasons since Phil Jackson. With LeBron's departure, the Lakers got to work, building a revamped roster around Luca, re-signing Austin Reeves, trading for Walker Kessler, and making a bunch of free agent signings this off-season.

Redick was asked about this new look squad compared to the ones he had his first two seasons and had this to say. We've always tried to give our players clearly defined roles. And I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together. And so those roles probably get even more crystallized.

And I'll give you the wing thing. Like there's a very clear ask for you to be able to play. And if you don't do those things, then you're not going to play. That's just the reality. We've already had some of those conversations this week with our players. We have high, high confidence in these guys. they're going to buy into that. And so it's going to create, naturally create, a lot of healthy competition.

And everybody at some point inevitably will get a chance to impact our team and impact winning. JJ, you mentioned that starting spots are up for grabs. Is that, I mean, you said spots, right? Multiple. Is that kind of in your mind? Do you view, obviously, presumably Luca will start off. I'm pretty confident in three of the spots. Yeah.

And then Rob. The other two spots will not be two white guys. So like JJ said Like JJ said, the Snowtime Lakers Big Three of Luca Austin Reeves and Walker Castle Art Yeah, you can't laugh

He's right He's tight He's tight already Have we ever had a big three? Have the Lakers ever had a big three? Of course Last year Dwight

No, no no Steve Bass Oh cocaine white Exciting white snowtime Leger's way back in the day When George Mike When?

When Slate? When slavery was legal. Was it a big three? Minneapolis? Was it Minneapolis? Yeah. Minneapolis. Oh, you know.

Jackie Robinson Times. Okay. All right. All right. Okay. But Snowtime Lakers Big Three of Luca Austin Reeves and Walker Kester guaranteed starters with two additional starting spots open for grabs. While Reddick said they will not be two white guys.

That doesn't leave out the possibility of a white guy grabbing at least one of them. I don't mean interrupt you. But I'm sorry. We're not going to do this. It's a big one. It's one. The other two and then there are other two. Yeah, okay.

Yeah. The big three is three star players. They're all-embeer all-stars. That's a big three. I like the snow time. Yeah, this is a big one. That's a credit for a time. I like snow time.

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Stream Miley's new album, Bass Persuades, today. By age 11 or so, at least 70% have a phone. Middle school is a different world than the one we grew up in. I'm Dr. Joy, and this is Therapy for Black Girls. We spent real time on it in our surviving middle school run, bringing in a child psychologist and a psychiatrist who's raising two black girls of his own to talk about what's really going on with our kids right now. So it's literally physiological and neurological and psychological and psychological chaos happening all this end up. We got into group chats and gaming, friendships and bullying, and how to tell the difference between healthy monitoring and the kind of surveillance that erodes trust. And belonging, you could think of belonging as, I can be.

be myself and I can still be accepted. And then there's fitting in. Spitting in says I have to change who I am in order to avoid rejection. Then we turn the conversation toward the fathers. Sitting down with therapist Keir Gaines on Black fatherhood and what it means to raise a daughter through this stage. You don't have on shorts, so you can't do flips. You have on the dress.

You have to cross your legs. That's the range of this run. From screen time to identity to the father's doing the work at home. We have to get off her device. But the reality is there's a lot of life out there that we don't. want you as your adults in their life to miss out on. This has been our surviving middle school run. Brought to you by the people who spend their careers thinking about exactly this.

I'm Dr. Joy. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed. And the argument is, do you want to win? If you don't win, you have no podcast. It's real. Those are the very people who I always say vote against their own economic interests,

and they complain about the very thing to receive it. It's raw. I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not going well with a lot of black men. Roland Martin unfiltered. I went off, I said, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Y'all going to scream at Chanel, but you don't want to see a black luxury company in the same vein. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. 12 seats.

Those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 2030, you better be hitting the ground going hard in the South now. And download Roland Martin Unfiltered on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts. Wherever you get your podcasts. What would change if you stopped letting money stress run your life, sis? I'm Mandy Money, host of Brown Ambition, The Podcast. And right now, I'm taking you. through my six-part money reboot series. This is your chance to hit reset, break the debt cycle,

get honest about where your money's going, build a savings plan that actually sticks, and start making financial choices that support the life you want, not just the bills you have. Because wealth building is not about being perfect. It's about having a plan, knowing your numbers, and making your next move with confidence with a community that cares like we do on Brown Ambition. Each episode gives you practical steps, real talk and the motivation to stop putting your financial goals on hold. So if you've been saying, I'll get serious about money next month. This is your sign. Start now.

Listen to Brown Ambition. That's Brown Ambition and begin your money reboot today. Listen to Brown Ambition on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon. People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor. And we pull apart the story behind the image. And we do this by digging through the BBC's vast archive. We're talking iconic moments in broadcast history.

I'm not just a boxer. I'm educated. I can talk all week on millions of subjects. And forgotten interviews that change how we see these giants of our culture. Well, if changing the system from the ground up is revolutionary, then I'm revolutionary. We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. I mean, when I go on stage, I like to dress as slutty as possible because it makes me dance a bit for some reason.

I'm Emmanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Wright. And this is Big Lives. Listen to Big Lives on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. All right, well, let's take a look at the Lakers' current depth chart. This is according to ESPN, not JJ Reddick or Rob Polinka. But you got Luca. Also reads at the two.

Quinn Grimes, a free agent acquisition, potentially at the three. La Ravia, Jake from Allstate? No way. Yeah, La Ravia, yeah, Jake Laravia. Jake La Raleighia. Walker Kessler. But you also have a bench that includes Colin Sexton, Ricky Camer Car,

San Jo Mammu. I'm not going to try to pronounce the whole thing. They call him Mammu. Mim. Kela L'A L'Lis Fili. No, never say that, Kailishfili like you said. Mandoah. You got Mata.

You got Mim. Zaire Williams, too. I like his name. He could start. Yeah, that's... It could be him, Mates. You know, it could be a defensive wing. keep Luke at the four defensively.

So we have to play on the perimeter. Yeah, I'll find the dude who's not producing that much offensively. You'd imagine. It's going to be Luke's guy. Quinn Grimes would probably be one of those starters. Shooters, face the floor, defender. And defender, yeah. So, Danny, we'll start with you.

What do your thoughts on JJ Reddick saying the Lakers' pieces fit together around Luca? I mean, I don't see as a crazy statement. I don't disagree. I think when they made the trade for Luca, a lot of people, didn't see how it would work, right, with Bron, Luca, and Austin, they all need the ball. They made it work. It looked good at times. But realistically, like, that's not a good formula for success. You need a little more balance when it comes to guys that need the ball and pieces around them. But, yeah, I mean, they got more youthful. They got more depth. Pieces around Luca

are pretty more complimentary than they were in the past. So, yeah, I don't know. disagree with that statement. Again, I like Sondro, I like, Matisse has a defender, Colin coming with the bench. You got some bigs. I think Luni is there, Walker Kessler. You could play Sondro at the 5. Zaire and Matisse, like those are good, you know, wings.

And I think somebody up there that you guys are missing. Hardy? Is he not, is he not a guaranteed? No, I think. I feel like he could be a sleeper help. Like, he could help a little bit. He could be a sleeper. He just being lacking a little bit, but to be expected. Yeah. He was together in Dallas. Yeah, he would be a solid.

They have more depth. So if there were injuries, which they are during most of the seasons, you have some pieces that can pick up, you know, and still get you through and survive some of those games through regular. I think this is a solid regular season team. Now when it comes to playoffs, they lack some experience. You got Luca. Only one.

Everybody else. You need one. You got one. Everybody else. Got to fit in. Yeah. And where they fit in. It in where they fit in.

So move over to UBD, obviously, Los Angeles Legend. I saw JJ yesterday at our kids' flag football game. And honestly, like, you know, you see a coach that, you see him before every season. You can tell if there's excitement, if there's stress, if there's a lot of work. I do want to give a lot of credit to JJ Reddy because 50 wins with, you know, of course you should have people. Multiple. You know, expect, you know, LeBron and all of them to win 60, but he's done a great job.

Like, I think being a player's coach, but also being an honest coach. And so holding the Lakers to a certain accountability, now with LeBron gone, I think he gets to coach up Luca and coach Luca to be the leader. And now when you think about all the pieces, you know, you got Sexton, which is like a dynamic guard, you know, like they have. small guards, him, the Hardy Kid, that can actually score that are not afraid to score. So you got a lot of other people around you. So wherever you mix and mess, those lineups, you got some athleticism, which I didn't

feel they had a lot of athleticism last year. And so if you took Luca out and Austin Reeves had to play with a combination, you always got that focal point in the offense. And you're basically going to have Luca and Austin Reeves on the floor at the same time. But if either one of them are out, you still got that primary ball handler. And everybody else is used to playing off a primary ball handler. Let's shift over to our resident Lakers fan. Are you more sold on the team now?

It's like when you think about AAU, right, and you go to Vegas, and it's that Utah team that come in, right? You know what I mean? They warm, they're warming up. They look trash and shit. They'll carve you up. Yeah. Yeah, that they over the back door.

black dudes, hell of athletic be done. Funny acting man. That's what this team looks like, they might have just

cut you up Utah stars if you're not about to overpass like a month. Oh dude, they're about to light you up. You have no idea.

Break the press, all that. Looking at you funny. Yeah, when he says fit, right, it's get along.

Everybody understands what they're supposed to do. what they're asked to do. You don't have to worry about, you know, anybody undermining, you know, what their role is, right? You got your corner shooters. You're going to have lane runners pick pop guys, right? You got your guys coming out there that's going to play defense, run the floor.

Like when you're talking about team, you have a team. Right? You don't have to do. There's nobody that's, you know. Nobody's going to hurt you. Yeah, I mean, it's everything Luca needs. I mean, you're probably looking for just one more rim runner in the starting lineup. Yep.

Right. That's, right, camera. I like camera car, right? A lot of potential. It's a sleepy, like, you're going to sleep on them because Luca is so, you got a pencil in Luca for 30, 40, 80, 8, 9, 12 assists, rebounds. So, like, you got a dude that is going to take all the attention. in the game, now you got dudes that are used to, like I look at

Sexton and Sexton has had big games against big time players. It has big time, big time games. And he knows how to play in that six-man role. Whether he's six-man or he's starting, you know what you're going to get.

And thinking about, you know, what JJ said is in order to play, you got to do X, Y, and Z. That is a perfect opportunity. for a lot of these guys who are defenders who want to score who want to shoot three it just gives you a little bit more confidence And a lot more freedom so you know a Vanderbilt Matisse Stuybal if them dudes can start

Hitting shot Zaire Williams like they gonna defend now because that's what they gonna want to stay on the court But then now you get them in the corner with the athleticism get to the rim I feel like you know you can you can advance the role players job by giving them more freedom but putting them in a super defyreerive rug. Yeah. You got guys out there who can actually hit shots. Yeah.

Like, you know, when you're talking about like sex and in car, like, they can actually get their own bucket. Right? Even, you know, Jay from Allstate. Yeah. Yeah. He can get a bucket. Then you got, like, so you don't really have any dead weight out there unless they put some of the old guys that I didn't like last year. You put them back in the game, then, you know, then you have just, it ain't three and D, it's just a D.

You know. I don't know what you do all year and all something, but if you can just sit in the corner all summer all year and just shoot the same corner three, you'll be perfect. Right, but, you know, I'm not too shabby on this team. But I got to cheer for him. Yeah. You know what to do it.

It's like you remove Rui, right? Because I love Rui, but Rui was an offensive player. You don't need, you don't need, somebody can get the same 15 points that Rui was getting with a defensive mentality. And so having somebody like Grimes, it gives you a little bit more flexibility without the cost of like Rui going off or Market Smart going off, which when they do, it seemed like, oh, the Lakers play that much better. But to me, it messes up the chemistry because that shouldn't really be happening. You know what I mean? It shouldn't really be happening with that frequency, and we shouldn't be relying on them to have great games

in order for the Lakers to win. So Lakers were ninth in offensive to Redding last season, 14 to 3-point percentage. You heard, we didn't hear, but Reddick, Rob Polinka talked about their philosophy going into this offseason with JJ's philosophy. He wants guys that can dribble, pass, and shoot, which I think is pretty standard and basic,

but they wanted to lean towards bringing younger guys in to move around Luca. Obviously, Walker Kessler, was the dynamic center they wanted to grab from Utah. Didn't play that much last season. But when he does play, super effective, obviously good defensive player, good rim runner, lob threat for Luca.

But just across the board, you know we talked to Lakers a little bit last week. You weren't sold on this team. I'm kind of wishy-washy on it. Obviously, I'm a LeBron fan. LeBron's gone. Still have a LeBron James on the roster. But I think if Luca plays enough games,

Reeves plays enough games, the potential of a team that might be interesting in the Western Conference. Yeah, especially with the pieces. When you're talking about doubling Luca off that pick and roll, you have guys who are going to hit open shots. Right? Like you have that, and if they do drive, they're athletic too.

So you have a little bit of everything. It kind of reminds him of that his first couple years in Dallas, that type of group. Yeah. Right, yeah. It's that type of group that he can run with and lean with. I mean, you can see he lost 50 pounds, right? Yeah. And this is a...

They're going to ride for Luke. The whole team is going to ride for Luca. And that's what you need. Last year, it wasn't, it was a torn locker room. You know what I mean? Yeah, all these dudes going to ride for him. Like, scary. Yeah.

Like when you're talking about scary, you're talking about when Yokish lost his weight, no one realized the impact of him losing weight. It turned into an MVP. Yeah. It did. Luke will losing 50 pounds. I don't think Luca lost 50 pounds. If he lost five pounds, like, wait, whoa.

They said he's about 2.30 this summer. I'm sure he played about 250, 2, 60. You'll be surprised how people hide weight. Oh, give it. You'll be surprised how you hide weight. Why do you think I wear baggy shirts on the shoulder? If you couldn't guard the fat one or the out of shape one, or the one everyone made one of it, and he averaged 30-something on you.

What do you think? What do you think expects when somebody who tapped into bad? better conditioning. That's what changes players. Conditioning better. Understanding how to condition. Right? When Steph Curry got into that next level,

it was because he can stay on the floor and he can outrun you. Yep. Right? That's what LeBron James build his career on. Kobe. Like Alan Iverson, believe it or not. Just running back and forth up and down.

Right. So him being in better shape, right? that means he's a little quicker, a little faster on these moves than he was in the past, right? So you still have the little, you know, these little moves with quicker bursts. You're in trouble.

No, they got a good roster, man. Again, I'm with Gil. I think they're missing one other lob threat would be nice, a little more depth at the five. I like Looney as a screener and rebounder, but I think they need one more. Like, Sandro at the five, he's more of a stretch five. He's not more like a lob threat.

But, again, I think this is a good regular season team. I could see them they were with injuries last year they were four seed four or five seed yeah four seed they had home court right LeBron had the sciatica Luca with the hamstring after that they got injured out the playoffs

I don't say they're a better team but I think they're same kind of just different they're different but kind of the same they could be a top five I think this year I think a lot of the a lot of the guys gonna have more confidence like that's you know no disrespect to LeBron but when somebody like that

that's that polarizing is sitting in that, you know, one A, B, you know what I mean? Like, when him gone, now people feel like, oh, I got a chance to play. I got a chance to contribute. And I need to rock with this dude, Luca. So whatever he need me to do, like, you can build more chemistry than when you have, sometimes what I saw at the Lakers is not, it didn't quite work when all three was in. It always worked when two was in, you know.

And so remove one and then everybody else gets an opportunity to like take away chunks of whatever, you know, LeBron Average last year. Yeah. Like five points, an extra five points can go to Collins, Exx, an extra five points to Vanderbilt. Like, we don't know how much better these guys can be because their role was so limited. Go to the corner. Play defense. Don't shoot. Pass.

You know, like, don't turn the ball. Like going into a game and be like, hey, Denny, man. Like, don't shoot. Don't turn the ball over. Like, a coach is just telling you all the shit not to do. You're like, damn, well, what I'm supposed to do when I get out there? You know, instead of like, here. Instead of saying, this is your role, like, it just changes a whole mentality to a player.

Obviously, like you said, clear defined roles. Luca is the guy now. There was some issue last season. LeBron being the third option, but not really being the third option. But just in that locker room, not to say there was division, but you got a player of LeBron's magnitude. He's managing egos, man.

It's a lot of egos. You know, so. I mean, it is hard. You know, you can look at it. You know, Austin, you know, this is my contract year, you know. Yep. LeBron is my contract year.

Yep. Right? Luca knew. Who, who, who, who y'all keeping? Right? Yeah. That's a thing. Yeah.

Right? Bingo. And if you're Austin, you're like, it was harder for Austin because you don't know. If you don't get the bag, like he already has it. Yeah.

Right? He's got a hundred. I'm just trying to secure my one. That kind of sets me up for the rest of my life. Right? So that is pressure. Yeah. Right?

That's pressure to play better. Who am I rocking with? am I leaning more towards being friends with Luca because I'm all me and LeBron we we did this yeah right so I don't want to show too much favoritism so the pressure on Reeves you can see it got it got it got to him towards the end and you know that panic you know so he's gonna play a lot yeah it was almost like uh you know being a kid and in a in a divorce yeah right where it's like you you split in custody so he's splitting custody over here with LeBron he over here

with Luca and like I think for him now it's like all right I got I got a home I'm rocking with this dude and when I do rock with this dude like we was we was putting points on the board we was putting numbers up so I think it relieves him and then put him in a position and now it's like all right everything you that people say you're not you can go attack that you think he gets the all start this year if he starts off like he saw him last year yeah yeah if he get MEP. I think this to be as a

all-star. How he plays, listen, how he plays the game, it's what some of the other guys who just don't get to that next level. I can't even say somebody like a Tatum, someone like,

Spider-Man. Yep. Right? That, you know, the Donovan, where he understands how to get free throws. Yeah. When he's having bad game.

Yes. Right? You know what I mean? That, that, Six for 15, but he had 25 points because he had a whole bunch of free throws. You know what I mean? Because he knows how to get fouls, he becomes more dangerous.

Yep. And he's gifted at that. Lakers 20 and three last season when Reeves scored 25 or more points. Was that you? Lakers were 20 and three last season when Reeves scored 25 points. And he was a hell of a play. He going to get buckets, man. He's going to be like his Denny Avi type year.

So we're going to talk, we're going to talk Luca and Reeves a little more. But when you look at that Lakers supporting cast, is there a role player besides Walker Kessler that? can emerge as a consistent compliment to Luca and AR. Zaire Williams? Yeah. I mean, outside of grind, you're looking at it. I would say grind. Yeah. Outside of Grimes.

You know, I mean, there's a plethora guys in that roster, I think, that could be, go game to game. Like some... You're versatile. It could be, you know, Zaire, it could be Matisse. It could be Sondro. You know, at the four, pick and pop. He could also play the five. They can go five out. It could be a number of guys.

It could be Sexton or Jake LaRavia. So that's what, made them, I think they're different, but a little bit better because they have more depth than they had last year. And versatility, too, man. They got a lot. Like, when they go small ball, which the league is like, start your biggest players. And then as the game start moving around, your next center is probably not a rim runner. He is probably a picking pop guy.

Now the Lakers can match up with the Minnesotas. They can match up with Denver when it's just joker out there. So now you have a versatility to. mix and match and find that position to get you those points as a whole. So three people getting, you know, seven, eight, ten, like you've hit your number from the three position. Or you know what I mean? You've hit your number from the shooting guard or power forward position where you're going to need those points. Quinn Grimes, I'm from Stability now, four-year, $60 million contract.

Yeah, New York Center to Detroit. You got some bread now. Detroit, then he went from Detroit to Philly. But he rock out, though, like he, he get busy. Yeah, he do. And he can get busy on his own, too. Yeah, not just a shoot.

Yeah, he put up like 22 that one season with the, he can counter and get to the rim. He could fit, you know, he could get some, he could make other moves besides just catch and shoot. Any of a big guard, sex and play like a big guard. So you're getting what you're going to get, what you got from Marcus, but with more athleticism,

scorn. Like he's a score. Defense, right? He's going to be able to chase the jaws and people like that when you play small. So it feel like they got a good combination of like what they want to go out to achieve as far as looking at the rest of a division, the rest of the Western Conference and say, okay, if we go small enough, I know Sexton can guard a Deerrin Fox or Dame Lillard. Like, we got enough.

And we got Grimes who can guard, you know, the bigger guards, like a job. Jamal Murray, somebody like that. That's where the league is going, right? You've got to have numerous lineups that match everybody. The only thing that they're missing is that double big lineup. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, like, if you want to play against a Wembe or a Yokic or with another big, you have to have another backup or even Knicks when they had Mitch and not even got drumming, but... Yeah. Mitchell Robinson was key for the Knicks coming,

or Wemby, because you can wear it down. I think what's the funny is. Wimby's going to be like Shaq. where because he's going to get dominant, you're going to have to just start stacking up on the other. Yeah, yeah. Like he's going to,

he's going to change the league back to where when Jack dominated. You need a double big. You're sitting there with five leagues on your team now. You know what I mean? You mean one big that's a hack. It's strictly defense that's a hat. Like if you go back and look at some of those teams,

you're like, man, they had five bigs on the. roster. They were just getting job. He's just got to come in foul on this band a little bit, man. So let's shift back over to Luca. I heard it over multiple off-season. Lucas got himself in the best shape of his career. He heard that last season.

He did last season. He came in skinny last season. Obviously, had the hamstring injury, missed all the playoffs. But we got some photos of Luca at a recent workout. Skinny Louca. Looking like slim Slovenia in Jesus. Skinny Louca. Yeah, he looked different, man. Luca also embracing the leadership role. He organized a trip to Slovenia this summer for the

entire team to build chemistry. I think they said yesterday at the media availability that every player on the team wrote them a handwritten thank you note. That's what Rob says. Is it the power of writing a letter? So they did... Now, do they do that on their own? Rob suggested, like

him and Matisse had a conversation. This is Lucas team now, sir. This is the power of, you know, what a letter can do. So I guess they all wrote them. That's dope. Slovenia's dope, man. I don't know if you've ever been. I played over there during a lockout. The mountains are nice. but it's a different type of place which is cool.

You said the mountains? If you go up into the mountains in Savannah. They're in Lubei Ann. Ljana is not in the mountains, but there is a place in the mountains in Slovenia that's nice. But it's a good little team trip. You need all those bonding moments experience.

Like, you know, especially you got a new team. All those training camps matter. Like to start, you've got to find ways to come together early. Yes. Kind of get ahead of the curve. Because teams that got their whole team back or have a jump on you already.

Like you've got a full team back. find ways to get that chemistry. Yeah. It's a testament to his leadership, too. It's like, man, I brought my whole team to see where I'm from, how I get down, me, my family, friends, right, and then let's go who. Like, you already start in practice. So you already starting to inject, like, your DNA, like, in your thought pattern,

where people, like, the chemistry that you need, you start. you start that before you even get to training counter. So now you think about like the whole team was in. That's different. Whole teams don't never show up unless it's team mandatory or the vet stopping by. And you got the number one guy doing it. All y'all on me, this on me. I want to show y'all what I'm doing.

It's like he's starting to hold itself to a higher standard and level accountability by doing that. And now you think about it like they're practice. in before training camp even starts. So they're going to have a leg. I think they're going to have a leg up. Or, you know, they're going to be ahead of the curve when that season start. And you know in the NBA season, you get off to a good start, you know, in the first

couple months of the season, you can write your ticket into the playoffs. I think you learn a lot of that from Brown to, like, doing the gathers. They're not only just doing, they're doing dinners and golf. Like, they're doing stuff outside of the court, which is important. You need that. And that's a difference between organizations and, you know, you know, the champions that actually get rings versus the other ones. Yeah.

And people don't take, people don't understand this. When we get to the NBA, it's all new for who's around us is all we know at that moment in time. Right. Right. Well, we're seeing like, okay, I can take some from him. Okay, he does this before game. He does it before game, right? So we're trying to figure out how to be a pro, right?

an elite player like Luca, we seen what he was in Dallas. We heard what they said about him in Dallas. The best thing for his career moving forward was to team up with LeBron. What's the link up with LeBron? Right? You see the guy who's extended his career 10 years.

What do you do? This is what, how do you stay in shape? How do you do this? How do you do that? Because you're only going to find out being around that person. Right, if you're trying to get in shape as a guard, there's one person to go to. Curry, what do you do?

Right? Because we all think we're doing the elite of the elite until we meet somebody who's in a whole other realm. Right, we think we're doing our shit. And then you say, hey, what, Curry's doing what? Let me go. And then you go there and you see he's on a whole other level. That's why he's on a whole other level.

So some of these guys, if you're seeing someone move a little bit different, go. Yeah. They're only going to give you their secret if you're going to do what they're going to do. If you wanted to know what Kobe's going to do, he going to say, hey, you ready to blackout? Right? You what?

Black out? We're going to work out until we pass out. That's it. We're going to keep working to one of us just faint. That's what we're doing. So, you know, Luca taking that next step, coming in shape, right? Bonding. This is what we're going to do.

He's taking on what he's seeing the goal. great dude now he knows you know where to go and he knows how to handle the pressure from like LeBron left a good recipe you know with Luca and Luca now is like oh shit I can go and chase LeBron because that's who you have you know now you got to chase LeBron you know he's chasing Jordan you're not chasing Kobe everybody chasing LeBron so that gives him like damn I'm rocking with the dude I'm sitting shotgun in the car where I do practice He's soaking up all that game, and now it's like, all right, well, I got what I needed. This is what I was missing.

You know what I mean? This is all I needed. How to go into the season with expectations, how to build the expectations of your teammates. Like LeBron is like the greatest at that, right? Making people believe that, hey, we're going to win this shit and this is all in our psyche. Now Luca got that, and he get a chance to do it his way with the way he want. And then you also got, you know, players that are going to, they're going to rock with you. Like, they don't know no better.

All they know is, hey, man, he took this team to the finals. I know we better than maybe those other guys are more talented. Like, if we can keep him healthy, it's going to be great. And him coming in shape, losing that weight. You look at his body right now, it's like, man, he's playing to play the whole season to prove a point. I mean, he's always got that microscope on him. Let's talk about somebody else. We've got a microscope on him.

Austin Reeves. So this season, Austin Reeves signed the largest deal for an undrafted player in NBA history. After having a career high, 23 points to go along with five rebound, six assists, played 35 minutes per game last season. So Reeve has increased his scoring average in each of his first six seasons in the league, but we have to take on an even bigger role this season, being the Robin to Lucas Batman. We've talked about this before. And Rob Polinko talked about it a little bit yesterday.

The increased focus, attention, now you're a big name on that scouting report. He's been allowed to kind of thrive underneath the shadow of Luca and LeBron in previous seasons. But can Austin Reeves be a true number two option on a contender? When you say contender, what? Like chicken like that? When we say contender, like what is that? Right? He can be a number two option.

I'm holding Luca to the same standard as LeBron. So I don't want to hear this shit about, oh, this X-W, no. Go hang a banner, right? No, no, no. No, hang a banner. We had Anthony Davis. At least give me an instant of the term. You got Walker Kester now.

That's what you wanted. Whoa, whoa, whoa, we had Anthony. Lockbuster Walker Kester trades. Like that's got to have some paces. Like I'm saying, he can't have to say. It was Bron and Andy Davis. You got Luca now. Oh, no.

And then Austin Reed. It can't be the same dynamic. Yeah, yeah. You got Luca now. No, no, no. They took that nigger the backstreet boy. You got Luca. This is what you wanted.

All right. Now, you got to give Lucas some time. LeBron immediately. L.A. LeBron immediately. Like, he's just learning how to get to this. You said Luca was riding in the car with Brown, right, trying to learn and focus up everything. Yeah, but he got to go be the head detective.

You got to be the head chief. You got the key. Yeah, LeBron learned how to drive the car by himself, you know, and get in shape when he went to, he already knew how to play this game at a very high level, right? We played against him three times. He was smarter than us.

When he went to Miami, it's the same as Luca. He learned something different that he needed to keep moving forward. Yep. Right? He understood a work ethic from Duques, The Wayne Wade.

The Miami way. And the Miami way. Yeah. Right. Like when you're talking about greatness is like computers, man. Yep. Right? Yeah, they don't know everything.

But they're taking something from a little bit of everybody. Right. What makes this person bad? So if I see this trait in this person. Like they're grabbing every single piece of information that's being around them. Luca just got that. So Luca gets that. He got the motherboard.

Yeah. Yeah. Lucas, yeah, yeah, now Luca know like, oh, I can take something from everybody around. Like, LeBron. So, Luke is not on LeBron's level. We're talking about Austin right now. To answer your question, it sounds like Austin's not a good number two for a contender. Not yet, we don't know.

We don't know. We don't know. But we've seen it's 30 pieces, 45 with the patience back in the day. What I'm saying is we don't know. Yeah, we got to have little patience. I will say Austin, we don't know. I wouldn't I don't think he is a number two I think he's a number and today's NBA I think he's a number three I think you're big he's an X factor your big has in today's late league you're basically has to be either one or two

yeah because of how Yokic wemby joel and be like those guys that you cat those guys that you have the match up with and your guards SGA Brunson like you need your number one to be the one of those guys and number two one of those guys on the wing now if you're special like kairie maybe but But I think Austin, on a contending team, he has to be your number three. I've never seen him die smoke, though. No. No, he's not going to. Any time it's smoke, anytime somebody come talking shit, anytime somebody like, oh, we're going to lock him up, he get busy.

So he not, his game, you can't punk him out of his game. You know what I mean? The only thing left for him is the same thing with Luca. now you got this motherboard Lucas driving How do you want to drive? Now you're sitting shotgun Austin Reeves.

Y'all got time to figure it out. So is he a number two on a contender? We don't know, but I like him being in that range to figure out if he's not, then he's your ex-back.

His biggest issue was the last two playoffs postseason he hasn't performed like the one he did in Memphis. So when he proves that to be like a lights camera action, ready guy in the playoffs.

Again, he ain't running from smoke, but that don't mean for sure going. Four year 180, though. Yeah, but this is the expectation. He's going to play. He's got the opportunity now. Playoffs is the details in the game. And he has the skill level,

which is being a great one-on-one player, right? His problem right now is he does not have a fourth quarter game. how he plays the last three minutes is how he plays the beginning. Yeah. Right?

So he's going to take the quick fast shot. He's going to like. That shit ain't going to work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to understand mismatches. Everything is moving fast while you're moving slow. Mm-hmm. Right?

And you have to, you have to, it's chest. Like I got to target somebody at the beginning of the four, so I don't have to see him in the middle of the fourth. And when he comes in at the end of the fourth, he's out of rhythm. Yeah. That's what playoff basketball is about. Like, trying to figure out how to get to my option one, but put them in their option three. Bring somebody in the game that they don't want to bring in right now.

Like, how can I get, let's say, a Lou Williams, a six-man, he usually comes in at the six, five-minute mark. I got to try to get his ass in in a ten-minute mark, which then fucks up their whole rhythm. Those are the things you have to do in playoff matchups. And right now, he's just a little faster than what the game is when it's slowing down. And he has to just really – I mean, he got to – he got to – He's – he goes to get it to the four-quarter. He average eight points in the four-quarter of the game and the four-quarter of a lot. Getting eight points, it's not the game.

He goes at everybody. Yes. Like, you got to know, like, who to go after, who to go, when to go, when to pass the ball, when to make a play. And I think, you know, he's a bona fide. score. He knows how to score the basketball. He knows how to get to the line. But I think fourth quarter, he got to be a playmate.

And you can't just attack everybody. Every time you get the ball, when you get the ball. Like sometimes making plays for your teammates, right, or getting off the ball early, could benefit him because it benefits the team. But like, you know, he'd get under duress

and it's like, that ball gets stuck and the ball gets stuck and now you, 18 seconds of 24 seconds. And clock is you dribbling around calling another pick and roll, another pick and roll. So do you think he's a good number two option on a contending team? Thank you, dude. I think he's an X factor.

I don't. No, it's not a no. I don't know. I don't know. I got to watch him. I'm patient with him. As it stands, if we're predicted. I got to watch him.

I got to wait until after. On the prediction market, if you were. Prediction. But what I'm saying is we have some. We watch what we did in the year. We come back sometimes. mentally different. So I got to watch to see if he cleaned up those little things where he hit two three.

He's capable. I think he can be, yes. I'm going to get on that. He's capable. He has the capabilities. He scores like a number two. As a stand right now. He scores like a number two.

I'm saying he has to be a number three. Okay. What he's at right now, I think he'd be a number three. He gets better and he gets to that. He scores like a number three. He thinks like a six man. Where the six man comes in, they're playing fast, they jack up shot. Yeah.

Like I'm looking, this is what I'm looking for. Comes down, hits a three. Someone passes to the three, right? That six-man mindset or the guy who hasn't thought to the next level, when they come down the next play, they're going to heat check that three. Yeah. The whole arena's going to heat check that three. That's the one where he comes down, has he's. Motherfucker jump, went to the lay, got the two points.

Then you come back down And he'd check. Because if you check can come whenever you're going to be. Yeah, because now you just fake the three. You win by him. Now that guy has stopped. Right? So I want to see if he's learned that part of the game.

The science. Yeah. The science. He got to get more science. Listen, I scored 30 at 25 for a reason. Right? Like I'm listening to body language. Oh, hey, no threes.

Yeah. Right there. The coach tell you, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, a, ref. At ref, I'm pump faking the three. Because I know you just put a battery in this player's back. You said no threes. This niggas jumpy like a mom. He's jumpy as shit.

So I'm not trying to make the three. I'm just trying to get three free throws. Come down. You jump. There you go, got you. Because you're going to jump. You're going to jump. You're going to.

That's just basic. Like, you know what I mean? So it's just like when he starts learning those nuances, then yeah, he'll be a number two option. Sure. Let's move forward. Purple and Gold will enter this season without LeBron James

for the first time since 2018. During the Lakers media availability, Rob Polinka had this to say about the LeBron James era with the Lakers. But I thought it would be appropriate just at the front to express gratitude for the LeBron era here.

Clearly new team, new players, and that's what we're going to talk about today. But we just as an organization are still great for, for the run that we had with him here. The Lakers have become, as they should, a perennial playoff team, won a championship,

went to the Western Conference Finals, and it was a great era, and we're grateful for it. We heard Polinka doing some final glazing. He did a great job addressing the media yesterday. First, they get the moment of silence. Lawrence Tanner, shout out to the Lakers PA, address announcer.

He lost a legend, and then he addressed Bronn and his error, she should. I mean, seven years? Eight seasons? Eight years? We thought about, if he retired,

he'd got a statue. Now, I don't know, but. That's the longest stint for a team. Yeah, for any years. Longed at one time. So eight seasons,

eight all-star games, seven all-NBA teams. Danny, you run that championship, harder championship, NBA history, finals, MVP of that in 2020 in the bubble. Inargue NBA Cup

champion, MVP, broke the all-time scoring record in the Lakers jersey, top five in several Lakers categories given. He broke a lot of records in that jersey

helped rebuild that Lakers franchise went to the playoffs six of his eight seasons seven playoff series wins two conference finals appearances you gotta give me his resume I do because you're headed yeah keep going

32 but but obviously you're looking at me directly I want to hear it I want to hear it because I'm not buying no Philly jersey but I will say 32 and 31 overall record in the playoffs

So you disavowed your LeBron glazing now he's no longer on the team. Ultimately will be LeBron's legacy with the Lakers. It should be just like every great that put that jersey on, right? You know, the Laker fans, real Laker fans is honored to add another great to our roster, right? Add another banner to our roster.

It was needed at the moment of time. to have, you know, arguably one of the best players that ever, you know, played in this game to put that jersey on, to be in that uniform at this moment of time, right? You know, you're talking about, you know, dead periods where, you know, you know, everybody was retiring and the business of basketball needed him in that jersey, right? When you're talking about, you know, franchises around the world, right? The Lakers is one of them. The Yankees is one of them.

Dodgers, you know, like there's the cowboys, right? So, you know, you have one of the best players in the league at that time. You know, we're in a jersey. And he didn't. He didn't disappoint. Yeah, of course we wanted two, three rings, but we're not talking about LeBron from 20 to, you know, 35. You know, we got an older one who just happened to just take care of himself

to give us some great years at that age. So you're grateful. Yes. Oh, thank you. Just make it sure. Yeah, I think you got to, you know, want to appreciate and respect the fact that a guy comes to, you know, he's at the tail end of his career according to, you know, what normal sports say. And then he extends that, you know, for another five, six years. I think all time, he obviously top five, you know, his.

longest stint, which I just recognized was with the Lakers. That one time, obviously, he played along with the calves overall. I actually felt in the beginning, you know, like if LeBron didn't win two or three with the Lakers, that it would ultimately hurt his legacy. But now when, you know, when a great player is gone, you appreciate them so much, so much more. And I think what he did for the Lakers was made the Lakers respectable. You know, made the Lakers like back to like the Lakers being a show. The Lakers bringing people out, you know, Lakers being what it, what it is to basketball,

that's what basketball needed. And then also for just like the L.A. community in basketball, like he was outside. Like he wasn't hiding himself. He was showing up at kids game, high school games, things like that. So for our kids and the young kids coming up, it gave them an opportunity to actually see a megastar, touch a megastar, talk to a megastar, right? And I think that, you know, just overall I would say I appreciate him being here, right, because he did so much for L.A. basketball.

But as far as, like, you know, he's top five, top six Laker of all time. I don't know if a statue is warranted, but a statue after hearing all these stats, he got to have a statue top five in every damn nearer. He'll get his jersey up there. He could definitely get his jersey retired, got you a championship, got you to the West. You don't have to be a big statue.

You could just be a little one in the cut. Right by the baking wrap hot dogs. If he retired, Laker, you for sure, now that he's gone. But he could retire a Laker because that's his longest stint. He should come back to the Cavs. Yeah, I mean,

one-neck contract with all of them. Yeah. I'm with history, right? I've had every, if you're Lakers, you had, damn there, Every great dominant player comes through, right, besides Michael Jordan. For sure. When you talk about, like, that guy, when you're talking about just like megastars on the court and off the court.

Yeah. The personalities. You just didn't have Michael Jordan. Yep. Right? And now staff or KD. But other than that, you don't have every single one of them. Yes, I'm putting a trophy out there.

Because when you're talking about when history is ended. Yeah. I mean, when we're talking about 40 years, I need the guys in history when that list comes. Either he's going to be one, if not two. I got three. You got to be up here. I got four. We're talking about Kobe, managed to be a flex.

It's a flex. I want the goddamn trophies up here too. Right? That's the flex of an organization. When you're going up your resume. When you want that next megastar. It's like, okay, yeah. The bull got joy.

The bull got joy. We got a statue right there. We got the one. Yeah. Nobody else. We have. We have cold. We have magic.

Craig. Kareem. Like, we get to keep, we got the logo. Yeah. So I'm going to put that uniform up there and I'm going to put that statue out there just for history. Yep. To remember it. Yep.

I don't care about the people right now. Y'all can say whatever y'all want. Yeah, I was. Of GP, yeah. Of General Pris. Yeah. You got to put them out there. I have to. I mean, like, all these categories, all these stats, you know, finish the top five in the organization.

What Lakers was before he got there, it was pretty bad. Yeah. You know, and then he brought A.D. over, brought him back to a place and broken so many records in that uniform. I said before even he left, I thought a statue was warranted. Now that he left, I can see some of the haters or, you know, the guys that don't favor Braun. He'd be like, oh, he don't deserve one. But for that reason, alone. You got, you want, you want, like, that's why you brought him, man.

And he delivered a championship. He delivered hope every year for a championship, expectations for a championship. So that expectation is already set. Right. So now hopefully, Luca can, you know, can continue in that expectation. Statue them up, man. Like, it's weird, but it's like most of the hate comes from Laker fans. It was like, which is crazy.

Because, because the Laker. Fier fans did not want to inherit the LeBron fans. Yeah. That's what it is. Because they're Kobe fans first. But no, no, but. Like the LeBron fans, like, they travel with LeBron. So they, like, came from Cleveland, they went to Miami, went back to Cleveland.

Then they showed up in L.A. And, you know, L.A. people, they like, damn, man, all these transplants. Like, y'all don't even know the history. But y'all just start now, which, you know, that's... I get it. but it's like, when did, the two fan bases didn't beef. Kobe and Braun fan didn't beef. L.A.

They did a little people. It's when he got here, like, whoa, where did all that energy come? Because L.A. people are the biggest haters on the planet. Huh? We are. Yes, L.A. people are the biggest. Yeah, no, no, we hate, but we hate everyone outside of L.A. But when they come to us, we usually love them.

It was like, this was the only person we rejected. And I'm like, well, wait, hold on when we're talking about it. Our team We got four out of the five. We got four out of the five top. You know what it is? I think more so it was like an angst that LeBron was like there was an expectation that LeBron was going to come here and you know, which is unfair to him went two, three, four championships.

He's over the five. And then it was going to be like, oh shit, LeBron over Kobe with all these, you know, with all these, you know, like basketball immigrants like LeBron. is his own country. You know what I mean? He brings his own people with him. Look, he just left. He's going to Philly. I'm saying, I got another homeboy here.

I got to protect Bronny's legacy. I'm saying in L.A. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. He did give us Bronny too. But the goal, I think for LeBron is like, he has a click of people. L.A. people is not feeling that. And they're like, if he surpassed Kobe,

like, man, we can't fuck with LeBron if he passed Kobe. Yeah. And then I think that's where you get the LeBron hate from. But now that he's gone, it's like, okay. You want him do good, but not good enough. Yeah, yeah. It was like, he got us one.

Let's look at all the accolades. Let's enjoy him. And now all the Kobe, super Kobe fans that wasn't getting along with the LeBron fans, it's like, man, we appreciate you, man. Like, thank you. You know what I mean? Like, it's still going to be Kobe. Like, it's a renterspoon.

Like, you were going to surpass Kobe in a Laker uniform. They don't matter how many championships because you wasn't going to win five. Right? So I don't even know where the insecurity came from. But it's that the insecurity is it's LeBron James. It ain't like somebody else.

You know what I mean? It ain't like nobody else. It's LeBron. LeBron goes to the finals all the time. So that is like, damn, dude, if he get like two or three then with all the new LeBron chatter, then like people get kind of like

anxious and paranoid and they start hating. But now they love him because he's gone. Let's shift forward. Let's get like people do. I love like when I just have this thing with greats, right? Like your greatness comes from something and that you sustain it.

So the grates of everything, like I'm intrigued on what makes you great. Right? That's any sport. Like when we hate on grates, it's like, you hate so much on a great that you don't actually see what makes them great. You're looking for flaws and shit.

I get it. But there's something that keeps them at this tier. We can all learn from these guys of what makes them great. Looking at them made with them, what actually makes them great. Right, you know what I mean? Michael Phelps, like there's just,

these motherfuckers is very different. And if you're sitting back trying to nick and pick on what they don't do right in your mind. Because you can't do it. You can't do it. how to move forward in life. No, for sure. A lot of ignorance.

But that's the majority of people. You know what I mean? The majority of people are like that. That is L.A. That's why we love the city. Well, let's move this forward. So as we all know, LeBron took his talents to Philly this summer, taking a significant pay cut to join forces with Tyreece Mac,

you need to do that. It's significant Joel Embed and Jalen Brown. So on the latest episode of his Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash, which dropped today. Brian discussed the factors behind his decision to leave the lake and sign with the Sixers. First, I want to hear, like, how did you come to Philly? My relationship with Tyree's Maxie goes beyond the court.

You can tell every time you mention him on the podcast. Yeah, yeah. And by the way, and when I mentioned him in the past on the podcast, Philly was not even in question. It was just like, I didn't even know they would. No, absolutely. I didn't even, you know, obviously, and it's way before the J.B. trade as well,

which was another intriguing piece. I don't think anybody seemed coming. People saw that something was going to happen there, but I don't think anybody thought that it would be Philly that would be part of that trade package. I love the way he approaches the game too. You know, both sides of the floor, what he brings to the game,

his insight on the game. I watched him kind of misunderstood, and that is absolutely okay. I think we're all individuals for a reason. Like, you know what I'm saying, and everyone's always trying to put everybody in the same box, and I love what he stands for and what he brings to the table.

And one of the most important to be, be honest is the big fellow and the only thing he has not done and that's winning a championship and I want to try to help him get that first one right he's been an MVP of our league as a gold medal all-stars signature shoes a bunch of money beautiful fan he has everything yeah he has a city on his back it's been the process you know for what 10 years 12 years or however long He's been there. I think it's time now that we even dig even deeper into the process.

And I hope that I can be kind of that final little piece that can help him get over to hump. And have him see, maybe just see it a little bit differently than he's seen it in his career. As far as like the day-to-day process, the day-to-day, what it takes to get there. BD. B-D. I believe I heard you say, I'm bull. I'm bull. You're not rolling with

Bronz decision making Want to play with Tyrese I'm not rolling with that answer It just sounds like It's just too much PR You know It just sound like it, you know So man I was looking for

Why did you really go to Philly? I mean I understand they got a good team And all that But I don't know I just I think everybody's still waiting to hear Like people What's the real reason, dog?

We don't know I don't think we ever will But it could just possibly just be hoop. Like he might just really love to hoop. You want to win a ring for Joelle? Like you pick Joel and B. He doesn't want to run. Out of all the people in the league and say,

man, I want to get you over the top. Like that, okay, so I don't believe that. Tyrese maxi, I can see how he right with Tyrese because he clutch and, you know, you also a clutch client. And Tyrese Maxie is like, you see a young dude. You like, damn, dude, this kid is special. Jalen Brown, it's like, all right, now I can kind of like cover my, you know, I can like hedge my bet. If I hedge my bet this way, then it sounds like he was very political.

So you're not rolling. I'm just not rolling with the answer. Like that ain't, that ain't why you chose Philly, dog. Like, you don't want to, I don't know. Well, I know. I mean, it doesn't sound like. A lot of us is mind-boggling, not only that he chose Philly, but for the amount of money he chose Philly for. because we're like,

it's crazy, dude. You could have went to go to the state. And we're all waiting to see, like, what is it? Did you get a stake in ownership? Did you get this? Like, it has to,

because he's always very, he's a calculated human being, right? So we always think there's something deeper than just basketball. It has to be. We haven't heard anything yet. I haven't seen anything yet.

Yeah, it has to be. And I'm giving a lot of credit, Tyrese, I think Terry's that a great job for recruiting him. He's a really good young man. Like, he loves the game. There's something behind now. You said it.

It's something behind. So Maxi had his number? Yeah, they're tight, man. They clutch clients. That's like his little bow. They work out in the summertime. You know what I'm saying? Chris Johnson, who's?

You know, they work out. I mean, we can work out together. I don't mean you're going to have my number. Tyree's, you know. You got to get on a certain level. And Brian said he don't answer everybody's cause good, but. I know. He's been an all-star.

Tyree's been an all-star. He's been a good, big deal. You know, um. But he didn't say I want to win a championship in Philly. He's like, I want to get one for him. He's just, he's got four. So in his mind, it's like, I don't really need this for me,

but I think more so for him is the challenge of like being a complimentary piece. At 40-some year old, still winning. Like, I can take, if I can take this group to do this, now I think that adds to my legacy.

Absolutely. And I just love the challenge of like just hooping. So maybe I think it is just hoop at this point. Until further notice, I think he solely went there for hooping

and to try to win and also take the challenge of bringing the city. You could have went so many other places and been. Maybe those other places didn't want that

$8 million? That country of LeBron Peehan for $8 million That's the whole city The whole What? I take the whole family Oh what?

Hey, Gil, what you mean? I need some real estate I gave some real $8 million What? $8 million? I'm taking the asses I'm taking the whole lot I'm like

I'm taking the whole Brody family for $8 million. But think about the contenders. Do you want to change your do you want to change up your style of play, because you have to change a lot of things

when LeBron James comes to play for your organization. Hearing that, he should have stayed with the leg I don't think people would understand. Like, feel it cool. I get it. I get it. Remember,

this is $8 million. I think it's $4 a year, right? $4. $2 a year. Two years, $8 million. Our new segment, pocket watching continues right now. Which means

which means that is all 30 teams. without doing anything. Yeah, nothing. That means he could have added himself to the spur. Didn't I said that last year?

Wait a minute, I said this bullshit last year. I think I said that. No, Spurs. No, no, no. I said the most dangerous free agent, I named two of them.

I said, LeBron decides to take this big ass pay cut and he can just add himself to anything. Which then takes him over the top. And I said, Zion. I said, Zion, because of this weird contract, right? they can, they can

opt him out of his deal and sign him. Remember, he has some weird clothes and his deal. But they don't have to guarantee where he can be a damn near incremental payments based on hitting certain weight. So he could have ended up with a team.

It was some weird. There's something weird with his kind. What? Yes. Man. And he can't do nothing. Zion can't just opt out on his own. Eat healthy.

That's what he's something. But again, he looks crazy if he jumps on one of those championship bandwidth. He jumps on the neck. or O KC or San Antonio, like, oh, no, it don't. If the Knicks lost the finals, Nick's lost the final, I think Brown would have went to New York. I don't know if he was rocking with Brian

and San Antonio. I don't care. I don't know what those teams are like, yeah, we want LeBron. I don't think Wendy's like, I want to do it myself. I want to know why. Like you're choosing to play two extra years. Just tell me I love a game. You know, like, tell me stuff.

He said, he said, all that, Beatty. You want something deeper. We just, not enough. We just, I want something deep. something deeper. You know, like, I want something. Like, you got to have something to prove to come back. So there has to be, like, what is it, bro?

Like, oh, I want to rock, like, what, it could be something. Tyree, then said Joel, and then add Jaylen Brown. There's more he said after that. But, like, it was a full interview. But stay with the Lakers. If you LeBron taking the minimum, damn near. Yeah. The minimum.

That's the minimum for LeBron. That's the minimum. You could go anywhere. Yeah. You could have went to Minnesota. The OKC. But isn't that beautiful love of the game? It's a challenge.

Instead of going to a team is early. I ain't no challenge. Philly ain't never been to the finals in how long? 2001, I believe, was their last. Yeah, but they're stacking the deck. But it's still against those other teams that already been there. Like, OKC just won. They're stacking the finals.

Nix was just in the finals. Him going on a team like that, he would look crazy. He's not Cleveland. What I'm saying is he looked. You could have went back to Cleveland for $8 billion. You played in Cleveland, lived in Cleveland, would that be a... He lives there.

You can go to Philly, live in New York, or play in Cleveland. You can go back to Cleveland? I mean, I thought he was going to go back. I mean, I'm just saying... I don't know. Maybe he didn't like that roster there. Man, hell no, man.

He didn't... Where? Cleveland, the Phillies. Okay, no, he didn't like... He didn't like the... He didn't like the... He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to go back.

If the Cleveland roster was better, he would have went back. He didn't I like the roster? If that roster was better, he would have been back in Cleveland. And like the roster in Cleveland. This record is on. Miley is having a moment. New name, exclusive shows.

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When you think about it, like, maybe the same. If you're going to look, if you're looking around and you're talking about someone who is dominant and makes the game easier for him, you're talking about Jolene B. Maxie? Yeah. Because.

And then Jailen Brown. Because they get fouls. Yeah. Which means you can't hit LeBron, which means he's going to last a little bit longer. Every hit, he gets to the free throw line. So he's going to be able to average 17, 18 without taking a lot of shots because of free throws.

Then you're talking about Shee. You even talk about Jalen Brown. I'm saying? I'm just talking about Shay. Because he said he was going to go there before Jaden Brown. Then he's talking about Shay who gets a bunch of files, right? Which makes the game.

So it's like, but $4 million? If I'm going to take that pick, I'm guaranteed a chip. Because it don't matter. I feel you. You don't like me any motherfucking, right? I might as well go, I might as well go stack to death. Yeah, you don't like me anyway.

Ain't shit changing this championship I get. You're not going to count the motherfucker anyway. I got to wait for 40 years for everybody who don't like me dead. And then this new group just looks at my championships as normal. Wait, wait, if he gets this championship in Philly, you're not counting that one? You think the people who don't like LeBron James is going to actually, actually count it as a, as part of the five.

They don't count the other fours. What I mean is there's these weird discords. I'm talking about just the people who look at basketball, who put these lists together. He's got for sure. He's been number two since 2008. He was number two before he landed in the Laker Jersey. I'm sorry to tell you, but that's just the truth.

He was the number two all-time 2018 after he won that Cleveland won, right? You got to remember these, the inviating. He has, them four, them four MVP's, the finals MVP's, right? You win in Cleveland, you add that all up, they had him two. Now, he's been chasing one since. Do you think the Jordan Discord in basketball Pyrrhus is going to, if he gets another ring, going to put him in front of MJ? No.

No, they got six. No, it doesn't matter. But it's still asked. With LeBron gets seen, they're like, well, God damn it, how many times it is. And he tied. He tied him, Jay. One B. One B, you're talking about it.

One B, two. You're talking about it. He's never going to surpass Mike in that aspect. But if he wins a championship of Philly, that is definitely, like, you know how people. He submitted. Like, that's crazy if he did that. Game once is 83 if I'm not mistaken. It's crazy.

671 since 83. No, no, no. I'm saying it's crazy if he do that because he's no. I can win anywhere. But if he goes, he went to the other teams, y'all would look at that championship ring like how people look at KD's rings. You got...

No, because, like... I look at KD. If he went to OKC... Think about LeBron being the last big-time free agent to sign. Like, it's not going to ever come out that way. Shit, if he went to San Antonio or OKC or New York. He was the final piece.

So the media around now, Philly, right, is like, that is going to be LeBron coming to Philly helping two young dudes or, you know, a former MVP get to the... So that's...

He's going to get way more credit. He's going to get way more credit. He's going to get way more credit. The people say, tell me you, dog, like... He could be a finals MVP in that Philly Yeah, but again,

the Philly PR... Everywhere else he wasn't going to be. In New York, he wasn't going to be finals NAPE. San Antonio, he wasn't. I think he could have ganked it anywhere here. 90%. I think he has his best chance, right? But you save it for the finals and they come through.

Yeah. 90% of the people who talk about LeBron James in big media don't like, they're still Jordan fans, right? And when you're talking about- But still. You got close. You're true. But still, you cannot.

If he went five, you can't discredit the fact that this dude left the Lakers. He went to the Lakers. He got him one. Did all this shit. Then he go to Philly. Yeah. And get them over the hump. Like, Joel is like, you know what I'm saying?

John Brown can be the MVP. of the finals. LeBron still, that is a huge part of, like, his storytelling, because now when you look at the greats, you're like, all right, well, this dude went,

you know, four or five different places. No, I get, but he won everywhere he went. I get that. Which is crazy. That's the great argument. Now, you try to convince the Skip Baylor,

a Stephen A. Smith. You work with Skip, you know you're not convincing him. Of course you're not convincing him. But they don't know. That's like convincing my uncle. You know what I don't know. Your uncle is not on national TV.

But he got the same opinion. He got the same opinion. I feel the same way about him as I do. And your uncle don't have a vote. There's one thing that I've always said when it comes to Jordan LeBron. When you say Michael Jordan's name in conversation, you smile. Right? Because you remember the time.

You remember, I want to be like my, you remember the Gatorade commercials. You remember when Mike was being pushed in front of us, it was only positive information. Man, you remember. So when we hear the name Jordan, it comes with a positive thought. When you think about LeBron James, the narrative since he's came in the league has been so negative that you only bring up negative shit. Listen to somebody. LeBron has the cleanest slate of any fucking megastar.

But that's never been... Kick all that to the side. But people thrive on negativity. When somebody say Michael Jordan, the reason why you smile because you saw his get down and as soon as you say Jordan, you're like, God damn.

I ain't seen no... I ain't never seen no shit like that. And that's the difference between him and LeBron. When you say LeBron, it's like, damn, you think about, man, that's a... one of the great...

He's a great... right. He does it all. Like, when you think of Jordan, you're like, damn, dude, it immediately draws you to an image, a highlight, or something that you like, damn. Like, I ain't never seen nobody do that shit. Which you probably have. You probably have.

You have. You have. Right, but it's like the way he did it. You know what I mean? It's like, damn, the way he did it. It's so, you know, it's, that's why people smile when you hear Michael Joy, you Like, damn, dude, like, if I could fucking be like Mike. For sure.

It's the errors, too, man. Social media is ruined the celebrity. You got to see a lot more of bronze faults than Mike. If Mike had lived on social media, he would be way more false. Just watch the game. What are the fuck? If we just watched the games of bronze, we don't go to. I was watching Michael Jordan live.

But we didn't have a chance. If he had social media, you didn't have social media where people are nitpicking. But they tried to do it anyway. But you can't. But look how nasty to Jordan, last year, it was at, we're done with the 90s, right? Where you just had a small group of people who was talking bad about Jordan.

Look how crazy that guy. Now imagine if you did it for 25 years. Talking bad or just presenting? Just present, but it's still talking bad. Because you're nick picking what you want to talk about. You're nick picking what you're talking about. But if you're a real. person that's watching basketball and understanding the game and you love the game and you have

you know like the it factor that we all share you're going to look and say damn dude like that's a hell of a play that that's greatness like no matter how you look at it it's almost like Jordan is some shit that we ain't never seen before LeBron is some shit that we just can't figure out mm-hmm just can't figure out like what it is He's bigger than everybody He faster than everybody He's smarter than everybody You know what I mean

And then you start saying Well he can't do this He's not a great shooter He's not a great this It's like That ain't true You know what I Like everything that you're saying

That you hate now It can't be true Because his results And his greatness You just can't figure out You can't figure out why you love him So I hate her gonna Try and nitpick

All the negative shit and put it out there, but it's really like, this guy's incredible. You can't figure out nothing else, but to, like, talk about his percentage. Have you listened to somebody? Like, ask somebody who don't

really rock with LeBron. Or just say, hey, tell me your top ten. It is the weirdest top ten conversation you ever have. They're going to go, Jordan, give you the things they like. They'll probably go, Kareem, give you the thing.

Whenever, wherever they have LeBron, it would be a negative attack. It's like they're already on the defensive end when they're talking about it. They're like, yeah, I got LeBron at four because he's four and six in the championship. He did. Like, wait, what? And then the next person after them, yeah, I got magic. He got five rings.

It's the weirdest conversation. Every single person, if they don't have LeBron one, when they get to them, you're talking about negativity. because it's like they're already on the fence on why they have them there. And it's like, yo, like, it's a top 10, which means the people in the top 10 is the best motherfuckers ever. That's positive. Right? If I say, name of your top 10 movies, you're not going to say, one is this, number two is that, number three. Yeah, I don't really like the motherfucker like that.

It didn't bad. LeBron? Like, to me, LeBron and Jordan ain't even like, they know. not even the same mold. They're not even, like, I look at LeBron and I say LeBron is the greatest version of a Magic Johnson that we'll ever see. The most

versatile player that has ever played this game. Magic played all five positions. LeBron played all four. Five. He was in the center when you? Yeah. He started at center when you? I mean, he played at the shoot at center. But he did start at four. He started

at point guard, let the league in his system. So when I look at LeBron, I'm like, damn, like the reason why you can't, it's like a magic thing. You got to just leave LeBron the fuck alone, put him over here on his mountain and say like here's, magic was magic.

LeBron, we don't, like, you know, it's like King, like, if we, if he had a different type of, like if we got to, we never came up with a name to describe everything he was. Michael Jordan, air. He walking on air. You know what I mean?

He had the magic. AI was the answer. Like King James, like, he's going to get the most hate because why. Kings get the most hate. He's supposed to take care of the whole fucking village. Everybody relying on him. So everybody's going to hate on him because he's taking away motherfuckuckuscious's championships. He's taking, you know what I mean?

He giving championships to people that left these teams. I'm like, ah, man, I hate this dude. And now he go over there and like, man, let me just link up with LeBron and go get one. Get a chance to get one. So it kind of messed the game up because now all the O'heads is like, we don't like how he king. Because our king didn't do it. Yeah.

You know, because your king couldn't do it. It was medieval times, buddy. Yeah, true. You had to go and, you know, get on the horse in it. Like, now they got, you know, they got all kind of grenades and shit like that. You got to fight a different war. Extend those. Like when people say, yeah, just.

everybody wanted to beat Jordan no the fuck they couldn't beat Jordan if they could they financially couldn't like team up with him but we see the motherfucker leave who's killing people's career now

he left the east begged to come to the West so he can at least go to the championship because he had no road in the East begged to go to the number one team in the West they said now we're good we're number one

well fuck it I go to number two I go to the son you know what you're talking about I go to the sun. But that's the same person who tears people out for leaving to go win. You left the east to go to west. Your first option was the Blazers, who was the number one team in the Western Conference. You didn't get that. You got traded to the Sons for those four years before you got there.

50 plus wins. They add you to that team. Of course they're going to the championship. And you benefited in the MVP. Why are you the person tearing down people's careers with your verbiage of leaving and not winning the right way? It's just so weird. Like, history is history. Don't forget yours.

Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley won no championship. But he says, you know, how Brown jumps the team and stacks. Kevin Durant jumps team and not a leader. Yeah, but it's different now. It's a different time. Like before in our era, you couldn't, in our era, you couldn't really jump. teams, you have to go play your shit out and then free agent, hope for there's somebody else

on the market. So it wasn't a lot of major shifts. Like we came in like, oh, you got to be loyal. You ball here. You get your next contract. You ball out. You get all-stars. Like, even if you don't win championships, if you are an all-star for your team, you can build

a hell of a legacy just being with one organization. Now it's like, man, I get to pick and choose. where I want to go. I get to pick and choose the team I want to fight with. That's what they don't like. So, yeah, but they can't be mad at that because the game and ultimately everything involved. So you got to respect that, man, he going king the way he king.

And this king said, I want to go conquer this kingdom. I'm going to go conquer this kingdom. I'm going to take over that. And then in my final one, I'm going to go to Philly. You're not rolling with the. I'm not rolling with the Philly. Now think about that. But I'm going to go to Philly, and this is my last,

this is my last hurrah as the king of the NBA. So when you trace my lineage, you're going to see, oh, they were weak, and we got them right. Then I went over there. They used to be good. I took them somewhere. Then I revived that and got me one and created something. Now I'm coming to Philly, and like, they've been dead forever.

So maybe it could be even a jab at Charles Barkley. So when he looked back, he's like, yo, I want to. I want to do. But now look about what you have to be some sick shit. You know what I mean? If LeBron thinking like that, he is a sick dude. Mind the guy.

He's like, he's one of the kids. You just said something that's very important. When LeBron left and it shook everything, right, to go win that championship and they won. What happened was superstars is like, well, I don't have to be stuck here. I can go leave, try to win me a championship.

That's easy for Superstar. So what is the narrative to give them back control? Well, if you don't win it home, shit, you can't even be up there. If you leave and win a championship, yeah, that's not how the great's doing. LeBron has passed all of them dudes. No, but that's, but that's, but for everybody else, that's, that's what they hold over to Steph Curry's in those guys that. if you don't stay in winning like Kobe, like Jordan, like magic, like bird,

like Duncan, how can we put you in the five? So everybody's like, so now you got players just sitting time. I'm like, yeah, yeah, stuff. Just as long as we're competitive, knowing, wait a minute, I can easily go get another ring. I can go to Philly. I can go here. I can do that. But they're like, well, should, I've been here for 14, 15, 16 years. What's another four for me to submit my legacy?

Yeah, or if I do leave and we don't win, it will fuck your legacy early up. You know what I mean? So like that, like think about it. Why don't? Like Clyde Drexler went to Houston. Clyde Drexler got a championship. Clyde Drexler was already cold. That made him a champion.

Making you a champion gives you the fucking badge that. that not everybody can get. If you're a superstar, if you're a superstar in that era, you got that badge, you are a megastar in the NBA family. You get to go in a certain room no matter what. If you're a superstar that ain't won it,

you may still get to go in that room, but when they have a championship ceremony, you got to come out and hang out with the rest of these superstars. It didn't do it. LeBron made it so the superstars could move around. They ain't got no megastars. You know what I mean? He ain't got no megastars.

LeBron was a megastar that moved, which fucked the game up. So then that messed up everything where a superstar is like, hold on, dude. I'm a five-time all-star, and I'm sitting over here, man, let me go get me a championship so at least I can go to, you know, everybody want to go to the Hall of Fame. You know what I mean? A great big place.

And then there's that one door. Yeah. There's that one girl. There's only about six of them in that. It's that card room. Yeah. You can't get in the car room. There's that one room where, hey, hey, we all stayed on one, two.

No, hell not. Hey, man, hey, look. He can go in that room. Oh, he can't. She can't. Shit, then fix him a drink and sit down at the table. He can kick the table over. The Cleveland one helps.

You crazy is hell. You crazy as hell. If you think he can walk in the same room that there's only six of them in there. Who are the six, you? Magic. Okay. Jordan. Jordan, who?

The Michael Jordan that played for the Wizards? Won a championship on his team. Don't do that. Won a championship? Don't do that. Oh, don't do that. Oh, sorry. You got Jordan.

You know they don't count that one. They don't count the Wizards. They call that business. Okay. They call that business. Oh, man. You called that. What's the game?

But that's the game. You get to do that. That is something you can do. You got the... And I love Jordan on the Wizards. He's getting busted at 39. You got... Duncan?

You got, um. Cove, right, dirt, which when you're talking about, when you're talking about three, four rings, no, no, no, no, I mean, what's the only, no, no, no, no, I mean, what's the other, no, no, no, there's only five, Bill Russell, there's only five, there's only six. Corrine. No, Karim started, the buck.

Green started with the bucks. Won a championship of the buck. What kind of sense do that make, dude? Wait, we stay with one, there's a group, we stay with one, you know how, y'all ain't got your own card rooms. Yeah, that's enough, fuck that. You know, hell, hell, LeBon. And LeBron is certified memo.

But remember, I get you, though. Steph will be in that room. If I finish, Steph gets to be in that room. You know what? They may, they may gossip about him. So why are he over making Congress? So what's the criteria? But he got a key to that room.

When you talk about room, room, room, room, there's only one room. No, there's going to be multiple rooms. No, no, no, there's going to be multiple rooms. There's going to be multiple rooms. And then there's going to be this secret door room where the, the greatest of all time. Like when we're talking about when we're talking about

who is the greatest, Jordan is only accepting one or two people in that and we can talk about our resumes. Right? That's it. As many tables we sit at, there's always a secret door

to be at that table. There's going to be him, LeBron. So again, what's the criteria to be the one when at home? You have to stay there the whole time? By hell. Yonnas is the one.

But I'm dead. Who the fuck? No, but you, but Yon is impossible. Yon is impossible in this era. And that's why they do it. It's impossible in this area. It's impossible.

It's impossible. So I get to tear your career down because we, we get to play under the old rules. But he, he played by the old rules. He defied the old rules. He came in on the cuss of the old rules. Right? He got two. He left.

Yeah. So he defied the rules and said, man, fuck that. I'm not going to stay in clear. Cleveland and try to stay here my whole goddamn career. Y'all siphling motherfuck like because he got everybody in there. He had D-Wade, D-Rose, Shack,

Jameson, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. He tried them all. Yeah, he did try them. They were trying them. And then he was like, you know what? Maybe I need to go somewhere where I can go figure out and go get a winning recipe.

So he left. And he powered up. So when when the king made that decision, the whole everything. He got old guys on a He had an NBA, start tripping. The oldest.

Yeah, no, but that's, but the guys in that room. He got two in Miami. They don't count. So you got two in Miami. That means you stayed somewhere, you got back to back. So you're only in a certain category with certain people who got back to back. In an era where there was the loyalty clause, you broke the loyalty clause and said, fuck, Cleveland, I'm going to Miami.

Then you went back to Cleveland and said, you know what, I'm so goddamn good. I'm going to do y'all a sob. but come back over here and get y'all one. That right there puts him in that category, period. That bird magic and Jordan category, even when he went to Miami and lost, who was laughing at him first? Magic, should have stayed home.

Yes, absolutely. Because if you leave, right? You don't win. If you leave and you don't win, you get executed. But remember, the people who are judging it in that room, they never left. They never left.

They're the ones that tell you if you can get it in this. We all got four or five years. Magic signed a 30-year deal with the Lakers. You know what I mean? Back in that era, one-no. Man, it got a job. Nicking, that's a job. Man, I got a job.

I got a job by the sign for 20 years. It's the most job. But think about the three people who are in that room that's making that decision. We all got multiple NVPs, multiple championships, multiple finals MVP. He did two. With one team. Okay, that's it. These, we are three.

He's a little in the room. It's very little. He's making coffee. They talk his shit behind his back. That's all I'm saying. Magic, you got to remember, Magic Bird, Jordan, right? The three that started this NBA, they didn't care about that other NBA.

The three, the Davis-Thurned NBA, there's three people who's protected like God. They all got their own shit. But think about it. They've never really had to fuck with any other error. They preserve their error. You preserve your error. If I'm a 90s dude, if I'm a 80s dude,

Why do I even, oh, these guys are nice, but I'm going to preserve my era to talk about all the dudes that I played against because we know as the eras keep going on, everybody is going to say, oh, the era you played in was weak. Oh, them dudes was weak. Like, you have, there's no weak people.

There's a few. There's a few. There's a lot. A lot more. Well, there's a lot more in the 80s. 10%? of the whole pie, 10% are weak. Everybody else were good and really good in college.

It had to be something to get there, so you had to be good, and you had to basically switch a game to figure out, like, that motherfucker is the baddest, or he shoes better to me. I better figure some other shit out. Like, it wasn't, like, everything was rigid. Everything was defined. Now everything is like a rubic school. So, Jay, was there a question to that,

Are you just seeing how we think about Brown's statements? I think there was... Are you rolling with this statement? I don't... I'll stop paying. When he left... He's hating that. No, no, no.

When he left... So you just think it's... Like, I couldn't even fan them did, like, Philly. I think the price was... You don't want them in the room. The price is what got me. You know what? You don't want him in the room?

It's not the price. He could have got... He got more for the Lakers, but you listened to that Lakers press conference yesterday and everything was, oh, we waited to see what the Brown was going to do before we started a game planning. You know they were game planning long before that.

They had to do it. You have to. They have to. Here's the offer. We know Brian's not really fucking with us like that. We know he's going to dip, so now we can build everything around. He did it to Cleveland. He did it to Miami.

Right? You think the Lakers ain't going to get smart and say that, yo, at any moment. But they put these wheels in motion a while. You have to. You have to. If LeBron said, like, y'all, I'm a free agent and I'm thinking about doing some other shit, you got to anticipate that. He gave him the extension so he didn't have the option.

For $4 million, it is a try and credit. But, I mean, I think he just, some of the statements, I'm like, I mean, know. He was going to leave. I think he really just went there because he felt it was a challenge and wanted the hoop and thinks he could. But I guess, you're not rolling with it. You're not rolling with it. But that's the best.

I thought the spurs. I thought the best. I feel like Wimby probably wasn't rolling with that for his legacy. San Antonio, bro. What? But did we have a San Antonio Spurro? A good spot, but I don't think they wanted that. Like, he comes with a lot, too.

But that's my point. I don't think Wimby. Denver. He's like, I'm good on life. I want to do it myself. Man, he better stop. I thought a storybook ending. Go back to Cleveland, man.

There's a Wimby, and then there's an organization. Wimby is the organization. Organization wants that ring no matter what. Yeah, Wimby sound I'm not. I want to do it myself. I'm training a month. I do what the fuck you want to do as a basketball player. But this is a business.

My franchise adding LeBron, that value goes up a million two million. Remember back in the day, everybody is. Everybody was sack, when Shaq towards the end of his run. Everybody was like. Like, man, I just want, I need Shaq because I need some championship pedigree. Yeah. And pop out there. And if we can get to the playoffs, we can get to the finals, like, you're still thinking about that glimmer of, like, who he was.

So, like, why wouldn't San Antonio, if you want to win a championship thing? And this motherfucker is bad. Pop dirty mac and no. Slash your going on. Listen, listen, listen. You won't pop? Yeah, one thing I do know is it's, it's. It's, there's the players, and then there's business.

I understand it. I remember New York, won a championship. LeBronkota went to Denver. Business is thinking what? Yeah. Yeah, I got one. Sure. I just want to know, like, what role do you want to, like, what role are you playing in Philly?

That's where I'm really kind of like, he's the point guard? Point forward, yeah. I don't, can't. And how does that going to work? Donald Ball, Tyrese, Joel, Jalen, like, feed, big fella, he can, he can, be the facilitator there. All right. All right.

Yeah, I just want to know. Brian, I want to know, bro. 15 and A, 15 and 9. Yeah, Brian, I just want to know. Are we going here? We play a point guard. I just want to lock with you. And then I want to say, all right, you got to,

I'm going to play point, do this. He could average like 16, like nine. How are we going to do this? You know what I mean? Just tell me, bro. Well, Bini, we will find out soon enough. That's a Nick Nurse question. We'll see what you do.

We'll find out soon enough. But let's keep this thing moving. I don't know if he's going to be playing against it. Fuck up what you're talking about. I want to know if he's playing against the Lakers. Because Christmas or... Period. When he come here, because I don't want to pay a whole bunch of money

and your motherfucker fucking ass don't show up. I hope we don't play. You and B, y'all all speak. Hopefully MBE is healthy. I hope they're all old men. Come on, we don't get them right. I'm just saying. You know he's going to plan.

I'm just saying.